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Computer science to become Ireland's Leaving Cert subject by 2019

Xinhua, November 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

All second-level students in Ireland are required to study computer science, including coding, as a subject of the country's Leaving Certificate Examinations in three years' time, a cabinet minister said on Thursday.

Irish Education Minister Richard Bruton said he had set 2019 as a target for the introduction of the new subject in all Irish primary and second-level schools.

The Leaving Certificate Examinations, commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert, is the final examination in the Irish secondary school systems.

The new subject is one of a number of recommendations in an expert report on education in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in all Irish schools.

"This will ensure that every child has an opportunity to develop the computational, and flexible and creative thinking skills that are the basis of computer science and coding," Bruton said.

The STEM Education Review Group, which produced Thursday's report, was led by Professor Brian MacCraith, and included experts in STEM education as well as industry figures from world-leading companies including Intel and IBM.

The report outlines the extent of the economic and job opportunities for Ireland that are dependent on high quality STEM education, and also outlines that a step-change is needed in the provision of that education if the country is to compete on an international level.

It proposes 47 recommendations in order to deliver on these ambitions. In response to the publication of the report, the Irish minister has identified 21 of these actions for initial priority implementation.

All STEM teaching should be delivered by qualified STEM teachers, he said.

"Currently, there are challenges in the sciences, including an imbalance between the number of teachers with biology, chemistry and physics qualifications, which we are committing to address," he added. Endit