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NYCI has been asked to nominate participants for this event. The Vodafone Institute for Society and Communications is organising the International Summit on the Digital Transformation of Education and Employment in the Age of Connectivity.

Berlin | 3rd/4th December

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1st SMART_Newsletter

I am pleased to introduce the Department’s Statement of Strategy 2015 to 2017 which sets out the mission, vision, values and goals that will underpin the Department’s high level work programme for the next three years. This Strategy aims to ensure the provision of the infrastructure required for a high quality education and training system that will support Ireland’s social, employment and economic recovery.
I acknowledge the significant work that will be undertaken by staff of the Department and our colleagues throughout the education and training sector to achieve its high level goals and objectives. From an internal Department perspective this will require flexibility, openness to change and a continued focus on business process improvement, while ensuring the on-going provision of a quality service. On a wider public service level, experience and progress on the implementation of public service reform in recent years has highlighted the willingness and commitment of Ireland’s public servants to implement change and contribute to economic recovery. For the Department and our colleagues throughout the education sector, the period covered by the Strategy will be one of significant change and I have every confidence in our commitment and ability to deliver it.
Our progress on the implementation of this Strategy will be measured against the achievement of expected outcomes. This progress will be reported on through a variety of mechanisms including the Department’s annual report.
I would like to thank the staff of the Department and all of those who engaged in the consultation process for their valuable input and assistance in developing this Strategy. I now look forward to working with you in its implementation.
Seán Ó Foghlú
Secretary GeneralDepartment-of-Education-and-Skills-Statement-of-Strategy-2015-2017

Implementation of recommendations will lead to greater job security for young teachers
Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan, TD, today welcomed the publication, following engagement with the education partners, of two circular letters which set out the detailed arrangements and procedures for the implementation of seven of the recommendations of the Expert Group on Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employment in Primary and Second Level Education in Ireland to be put in place from the commencement of the school year 2015/2016.
The Minister pointed out that the implementation of Report of the Expert Group on fixed-term and part-time employment in teaching is a key plank of the Haddington Road Agreement.
According to Minister O’Sullivan, “I share concerns that have been expressed about the casualisation of employment in the education sector. For instance, in the post-primary sector more than one in three teachers is on afixed-term or part-time contract. This is not a tenable situation.”
One of the key features of the new procedures is that the qualification period for the granting of an initial Contract of Indefinite Duration (CID) is reduced from a period of continuous employment in excess of three years with the same employer to a period of continuous employment in excess of two years.
“I would like to once again thank Mr. Peter Ward SC, and the other members of the Expert Group for their report. I would also like to thank the education partners for their contribution towards the implementation of the report’s recommendations. Implementation of these circulars represents a significant improvement in the job security and stability of employment for existing and future young teachers. Ultimately, this will benefit not only individual teachers, but our education system as a whole.”
– See more at: http://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2015-Press-Releases/PR-%202015-%2003-%2027.html#sthash.yGxijtoP.dpuf

Finalreport

Ecorys was commissioned by the European Commission DG Education and Culture in January 2012, to undertake a study on the theme of: Preventing Early School Leaving in Europe – Lessons Learned from second Chance Education. The overall purpose of was to undertake research to identify good practices in second chance education, their success factors, and their transferability into initial education and training. The work was commissioned against a backdrop of growing recognition of the scale of the challenge presented by Early School Leaving (ESL) in Europe, as enshrined in the target to reduce ESL by 10% Europe-wide within the EU 2020 strategy, and reinforced by the 2011 Communication on ESL.