Education in Ireland
Ireland has a long and prestigious tradition in education, dating back to the middle ages when it held the position of the principal education providers to the western world (International Education Board - Ireland, 1997). Ireland requires that all children from six until sixteen years of age, or until the child has completed 3 years of secondary education, attend school by law. Due to Ireland’s emphasis on education and literacy, 99 percent of the population aged 15 and over can read and write, according to the Central Intelligence Agency World Fact Book. The Department of Education and Science direct the educational system; however overall responsibility for education in Ireland lies with the Minister for Education, who is a member of the Irish Government and responsible to the National Parliament (International Education Board - Ireland, 1997).
Ireland’s education system is technically classified by three levels of education: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. As stated earlier, although children aren’t required to attend school until the age of 6, many enroll into the Early Start Programme at the age of 4 with almost all children enrolled but the age of 5. The pre-primary education is not State funded, with the exception of the Early Start Programme and the Rutland Street Project. These programs are specifically designed for children who live in areas of urban disadvantage and have the risk of not succeeding in education. Throughout Ireland, there are approximately 40 Early Start Centers, with approximately 1,650 spaces available for children aged 3 years 2 months to 4 years 7 months (Department of Education and Skills, 2013). In January 2010, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs introduced the Free Pre-School Year scheme. This program provides a free year of pre-school to children between the ages of 3-5. According to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs participation in the program is 94 percent, even though it is completely voluntary.
The primary education sector comprises state-funded primary schools, special schools and non-aided (private) primary schools. For historical reasons, most schools are state-aided parish schools, however this pattern is changing. The state also pays a bulk of the building and running costs, but a local contribution is made towards those costs. Teachers’ salaries are also a cost of the government, as they are paid for by the Department of Education and Skills. There are also funding arrangements for some schools in disadvantaged areas and for children with special needs. There are 116 special schools and 64 private primary schools (International Education Board - Ireland, 1997). As of 2011, the primary sector serves approximately 450,000 children (Central Statistics Office, 2011). With just over 3,200 primary schools, these schools cover first 8 years of education for Irish children. The cycle for those eight years is as follows: junior infants, senior infants, and first to sixth classes.
The curriculum for the primary schools is child centered. Originally adopted in 1971, the curriculum was revised completely in 1999. According to the Department of Education and Skills, the goals of the education are to enable the child to live a full life as a child and realize their potential and uniqueness, to enable them to develop as a social being through living and cooperating with other and contribute to society and, lastly, to prepare them for a continuum of learning. The curriculum that was launched in 1999 was designed to nurture children in all extents of life – physical, social, emotional, cognitive, moral, spiritual, aesthetic and imaginative (Department of Education and Skills, 2013). In summary, the purpose of primary education is to emphasize a child-centered approach with a curriculum related to the child s needs and interests.
Students in Ireland transition into the second-level of the Irish education system at the age of 12. There are many different types of secondary schools which allow a measure of choice to the parents. Secondary schools are comprised of voluntary secondary, community and comprehensive schools. These schools are typically associated with the Roman Catholic or Protestant denomination. Vocational schools and community colleges are also considered to be part of the secondary schools; however they are not associated with any denomination (Citizens Information Board, 2012). The majority of the secondary schools education is provided free of charge, however there is a small number of fee-paying schools that are mostly found in Dublin. Most of these schools are privately owned and managed. Most are managed by religious orders, the rest by boards of Governors or by individuals. The State meets over 95 per cent of the cost of the teachers’ salaries. The 95 percent of secondary schools, which belong to the free education scheme, receive allowances and captivation grants from the State (Department of Education and Skills, 2013). According to the World Bank numbers published in 2012, there are approximately 500,000 students enrolled in the 800 secondary schools (Central Statistics Office, 2011).
The second level of education is also called post-primary. Post-primary education is a three year Junior Cycle, or lower secondary, followed by a two or three year Senior Cycle, or upper secondary (Department of Education and Skills, 2013). At the end of the three year cycle, students take a Junior Certificate examination. This examination verifies that the students have the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the Senior Cycle. In September of 2014, the Department of Education and Skills will begin framework for the Junior Cycle. The new framework for the Junior Cycle will again be more centered on the student and their skills, interests and needs; it will also allow teachers the ability to develop a broad, balanced and relevant learning experience for the students (Department of Education and Skills, 2013). With the changes in the framework, Ireland has also made significant changes to the Junior Certificate examination. The current examination in Ireland is currently out of line with best practice in many countries which have high performing educational systems. They have found through research that there is increasing international evidence to show that the learning experience is narrowed if an assessment system is restricted to assessing students through external examinations and testing, because both teachers and students focus on learning what is necessary to do well in final examinations, rather than on pursuing an educational programme that is designed to meet students’ interests and needs (Department of Education and Skills, 2013).
The Senior Cycle of the secondary school starts when the student is approximately 15 to 18 years old. The students have the option of taking a transitional year between the Junior and Senior Cycles. The benefits of the transitional year are that it allows the student an opportunity to experience a range of work experience and educational inputs, without the stress of a formal examination at the end. The Senior Cycle is generally a two year cycle, three if the transitional year is taken. At the end of the Senior Cycle, students are required to take one of three formal State examinations: Leaving Certificate, Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme, Leaving Certificate Applied Programme (Department of Education and Skills, 2013). Each of the Leaving Certificates is designed for different ability levels, based on the studies taken during the Senior Cycle.
The third level education sector consists of universities, technological colleges and colleges of education. All of these are substantially funded by the State and are autonomous and self-governing. In recent years several independent private colleges have opened offering mainly business-related courses (International Education Board - Ireland, 1997). The higher education is mainly provided by 7 Universities, 14 Institutes of Technology and 7 Colleges of Education. Also, there are a number of additional institutions that offer specialized education in the fields of art and design, medicine, business, rural development, music, theology and law.
For admittance into the higher learning institutions, all first year applications must be processed through the Central Applications Office (CAO). The CAO is a not-for-profit organization that was established by the Republic of Ireland, in order to deal with applications in an efficient and fair manner. Although the CAO is in control of the processing of the applications, the institutions still maintain all rights in regards to decisions on admissions. Another main organization that is essential to the third level education is the Higher Education Authority (HEA). HEA is responsible for the funding for all third level schooling. The HEA is the statutory planning and policy development body for higher education and research in Ireland. They maintain wide advisory powers throughout the entire third level education section (Higher Education Authority , 2013). The third level education sector will also be seeing many changes over the two decades due to the launch of The National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030. Launched in 2011, this campaign, which is endorsed by the Government, is aiming to provide a more flexible system with greater choices for modes of learning, improve the quality of student experience and teaching, and ensure that higher education connects more effectively with wider social and economic needs of society (Department of Education and Skills, 2013).
The education system in Ireland is fairly complex and constantly changing to adapt to the needs of society and internationally. In researching the education system of Ireland, it appears that their student centered approach is having a positive effect on the future generations, as the students are more willing to learn skills and knowledge that will benefit them in their future careers.
Technology in Ireland
Ireland is on the cutting edge of the technology sector where productivity and creativity are contingent on the skills, capability and agility of their labor force (Industrial Development Agency Ireland , 2012). As Ireland continues to grow at high rates in the services sector, they are namely growing in computer software and IT services. Much of the growth in these particular service sectors can be attributed to the Irish telecommunications system. The Irish telecommunications system is one of the most advanced, sophisticated and competitive infrastructures in Europe (Industrial Development Agency Ireland , 2012). Over the last few years, there have been many upgrades to the telecommunications system in Ireland that has resulted in it becoming a world class national and international connectivity optical network.
Due to the sophistication of Ireland’s technology sector, they have been able to attract many global brands to their country, such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, Citi, etc. They have been able to attract these companies with the state sponsored program Industrial Development Agency, which was formed as part of the Department of Industry & Commerce in 1949. IDA Ireland was initially established to stimulate, support and develop export-led business and enterprise in Ireland. Their strategy is based on attracting investors who are seeking locations for advanced manufacturing or office based activities which depend on highly skilled processes or are involved in high value added activities, such as knowledge based industries and biotechnology (IDA Ireland, 2013). Since the development and implementation of IDA, Ireland has been able to capitalize on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) which has been a key driver for new technology, skills, management and business know how that they would not have otherwise been able to achieve.
As the technology sector has grown, Ireland has also expanded the third level education sector to accommodate the growing technology fields. Ireland established the Institutes of Technology Ireland (IOTI) in the late 1960s. Today, IOTI represents 13 of Ireland’s Institutes of Technology (Institutes of Technology Ireland , 2012). The ability of the IT schools to continue to educate young adults with an array of leading-edge skills that are demanded by the industries that IDA is able to bring to the State will allow Ireland to maintain success in the technology sector.
POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT The political environment on the island of Ireland has been in conflict since the early 1920’s. In 1921, the island of Ireland was partitioned into two counties: Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland consists of the southern 26 counties and has its own established parliamentary system, while Northern Ireland consists of 6 counties and remains part of the United Kingdom. The partition resulted after Britain decided to withdraw from Ireland militarily, politically and psychologically, however the majority of Northern Ireland was Protestant and were convinced that they were British and they represented the majority, where Catholics represented the minority (Arthur, 1998). Due to Northern Ireland’s strong beliefs and connection to Britain, the British had no other choice than to create the partition, thus creating the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The partition settlement was the definition of a compromise, as neither side was satisfied with the agreement; however Britain did build into the Government of Ireland Act that, at a future date, it would be possible for the island to be reunited again (Darby, 2003). Although Irish Nationalists in the Republic of Ireland discontentedly accepted the compromise, there was a militant minority that refused to accept it. The militants felt that the entire island had to be united or nothing, and believed that as long as Northern Ireland existed under Britain’s Rule, the Republic of Ireland was also a sub-regime of the British State. This created a minority party inside the Irish Republic. Shortly after the partition took place, the Republic of Ireland erupted into a bitter civil war between the majority and minorities. Ironically, there were more Irish killed during the civil war than had been killed by their British enemy during the War of Liberation (Arthur, 1998). The partition has been a long standing issue for Ireland, as the Republic of Ireland has tried on many occasions over the last few decades to reunite the island. Between 1974 and 1994, there were seven attempts to a reach a political and constitutional settlement (Darby, 2003). In 1985, the British government reached an agreement with the Republic of Ireland giving them a consultative role in Northern Ireland’s affairs. This was done without the knowledge of the people of Northern Ireland. This agreement, the Anglo-Irish Agreement, paved the way for cooperation between the two governments and was a building block for the 1994 peace process. Between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, more building blocks were being created that were believed to make peace possible. From the Anglo-Irish Agreement, new legislation was introduced to deal with the religious imbalances in education and employment (Gallagher). This period also saw further development of civil society in Northern Ireland, a development that was vital for creating the conditions for wider political change over the subsequent decade (Darby, 2003). While there continued to be tension and strife between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland throughout the 1990’s, even with some of the forward steps that seemed to be taking place between Britain and the Republic of Ireland, however Northern Ireland was still hesitant with the thought of reuniting. In April of 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was delivered to every home in Northern Ireland. The agreement designed with three new interlocking institutions that were established to address the power sharing assembly within Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement stated that relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were to be dealt with through the creation of a North-South Ministerial Council which would allow co-operation between the Northern Ireland Assembly and Irish Parliament on certain functional issues. As a safeguard, the Northern Ireland Assembly could only operate if the North-South Ministerial Council was also functioning. Under Strand Three, a British-Irish Council was to be established. This would draw members from the British and Irish governments, as well as the devolved parliament in Scotland and assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland (Darby, 2003). The agreement was ratified on May 22 by 71 percent of Northern Ireland’s voters; however The Good Friday Agreement and the progress it made was suspended in 2002. Throughout the early 2000s, the stalemate continued between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Finally in 2007, shortly after parliamentary elections, the leaders of the Sinn Fein and Democratic Unionist Party met face to face and created an agreement that allowed a power-sharing government. Three years later, in February 2010, the Hillsborough Castle Agreement was signed, which created a breakthrough for the Northern Ireland peace process. According to the agreement, Britain handed over control of Northern Ireland’s justice system to Northern Ireland (Gallagher). After the transfer of power on April 12, Brian Cowen, Prime Minister of Ireland, stated that “For the first time, we can look forward to policing and justice powers being exercised by democratic institutions on a cross-community basis in Northern Ireland (Brunner, Imbornoni, & Rowen, 2007).

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