Teacher's Pet [IrishTimes]
- Published: 10 May 2011
An insider's guide to education
* The Government is due to unveil its jobs initiative today, and Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn will be briefing the press about how the education system will contribute to recovery.The Government is due to unveil its jobs initiative today, and Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn will be briefing the press about how the education system will contribute to recovery.There is much to be done. It was fascinating to hear the head of an Irish high-tech recruitment company on Newstalk’s breakfast programme last week talking about his difficulty in finding Irish graduates with the necessary skills.
Justin Keatinge of Version 1, who has just announced plans to create 180 jobs, said his company often struggled to fill IT vacancies. There have also been complaints from big employers about how hard it is to recruit multilingual graduates.
How long must we wait for progress? Students take technology at Leaving Cert, but there are no incentives to boost take-up beyond its current meagre level. As for computer skills, Ireland’s school IT infrastructure ranks among the worst in the OECD. As for language skills, there are are still no orals in Junior Cert foreign-language courses and almost no foreign-language instruction at primary level.
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