Plans to prominently display training and apprenticeship options on CAO website
Simon Harris, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, is due to appear before the Oireachtas Education Committee today to contribute to its discussions on reforming the Leaving Cert.
The Cabinet is to receive an update on Thursday on plans to display further education and training and apprenticeship options prominently on the CAO website when it opens this year.
Simon Harris, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, said he intends for applications for further education and training to be fully integrated into the CAO process in the coming years.
The CAO online application facility opens on Friday, November 5. Students have until January 20, 2022, to apply in order to avail of the discounted application fee of €30.
The details are included in the Minister’s opening statements to the Oireachtas Education Committee, which he is due to appear before today to contribute to its discussions on reforming the Leaving Cert.
Mr Harris will tell the committee that he believes that any reform of the Leaving Certificate process must be considered in the context of broader Senior Cycle Reform.
“We must consider the programme, subjects, skills and objectives in the round, not just the terminal exam.”
“It is really important that when we talk about Leaving Cert reform, we don’t just have half a conversation. It’s not just a conversation about the exam process, though that is important, but it also must be a conversation about what happens after the exam.”
The current system does not prepare a student for life beyond education, he added in his opening statement.
“We know that some schools are passionate about education in the round but this is not universal across our country’s schools. I believe it should be, as such skills would help our students transition to the third-level system or employment.”
