Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 March 2023
172. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Education if she has plans to reinstate CSPE as a subject that could be taken as an exam subject for the junior cycle; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14184/23]
View answerAs laid out in Circular Letter 0055/2019, the Junior Certificate examination in Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) is no longer available, 2019 being the final year in which students could sit the examination in the subject. Assessment in CSPE has been school-based from the 2019/20 school year. There are currently no plans to reintroduce CSPE as an examination subject.
This is in line with the 2015 Junior Cycle Framework, which incorporates a modernised curriculum and a balanced range of assessment modes, that more appropriately addresses the needs of students in the 21st century. It provides students with learning opportunities that strike a better balance between learning knowledge, and developing a wide range of skills and thinking abilities.
Wellbeing is one of the principles that underpins Junior Cycle education. It is also reflected in a number of the statements of learning that are central to planning for the student’s experience of and the evaluation of the school’s Junior Cycle programme. All students commencing Junior Cycle from September 2017 onwards undertake the area of learning called Wellbeing. Wellbeing crosses the three years of Junior Cycle and builds on substantial work already taking place in schools in support of students’ wellbeing.
The Junior Cycle Wellbeing programme began with a minimum of 300 hours of timetabled engagement in 2017 and progressed to a minimum of 400 hours for students entering first year in 2022.
CSPE along with Physical Education (PE), Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and guidance education form the main pillars of the Junior Cycle Wellbeing programme.
To facilitate the above developments, the Junior Certificate arrangements for SPHE, CSPE and PE were allowed to continue in their early stages of Junior Cycle implementation. Schools could choose to include the existing syllabuses for these areas in their Junior Cycle programme or alternatively, to offer the new 100 hour short courses in these areas that have been available since September 2014. From September 2022 onwards, the use of the 70 hour Junior Certificate syllabuses for SPHE and CSPE have been be discontinued for students entering first year.
Most of the assessment activities in the area of Wellbeing, including CSPE, is classroom-based and formative in nature. Learning in Wellbeing is assessed by the students’ teachers and reported on to students and parents/guardians during Junior Cycle and in the JCPA which is presented at the end of the 3 year programme.
While the Junior Cycle Framework is in the relatively early stages of its implementation, the reception and impact of the new courses being studied, and their assessment, is under review and evaluation. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) conducted an Early Insights Review of each newly introduced subject specification. These gather feedback from school management, teacher/educators and interested parties, in relation to the experience of the subject in question and associated assessment arrangements. Following the early insights review of CSPE, learning outcomes in the short course specifications were updates in 2021.
In addition, a team of independent researchers from the School of Education at the University of Limerick has been commissioned by the NCCA to explore the implementation and impact of the Framework for Junior Cycle. This is a mixed methods, multi-dimensional longitudinal research study, exploring the experiences of schools over a period of four years. The first report of this study was published by the NCCA in October last year. Findings from this research will inform the NCCA's ongoing work to support schools' implementation of the Framework for Junior Cycle.
