Ireland’s educational system, educational challenges and the purposes of improvement

Scris de Stefania Grace Tangredi

Tradus de Iasmina Stoian

Sursă: Jurnalul de Studii Rurale

Teritoriul Irlandei este împărțit în două părți: Irlanda, denumită uneori „Republica Irlanda”, și Irlanda de Nord, care face parte din Regatul Unit. Irlanda este membră a Uniunii Europene.

În 1926, populația țării era de 2 971 922 de locuitori, ajungând la 4982 de milioane în 2023. Irlanda a devenit un stat liber în 1922, o democrație parlamentară guvernată de Constituția Irlandei din 1937. Limbile oficiale sunt engleza și irlandeza.

Din anii 1950 până în anii 1970, economia irlandeză a fost în creștere și a crescut nu numai în domeniul politic, ci și în domeniul educațional. În 2008, șomajul a crescut, iar PIB-ul a scăzut în creștere. Planul de redresare convenit la acel moment a necesitat o reducere semnificativă a cheltuielilor publice și o serie de măsuri pentru stabilizarea finanțelor și revenirea la creștere; Irlanda a ieșit cu succes din criză la sfârșitul anului 2013. Cheltuielile guvernamentale pentru educație reprezintă 3,72 % din produsul intern brut (PIB); acest procent este mai mic atât decât media regională (4,6 %), cât și decât media pentru grupul său de venituri (4,5 %).

 

Sistemul educațional din Irlanda

În Irlanda, frecventarea școlilor naționale este gratuită, iar statul trebuie să ofere învățământ primar gratuit. Unele școli primare private percep o taxă. Frecventarea majorității școlilor secundare este gratuită, dar unele școli private percep o taxă pentru familii, chiar și în învățământul secundar. Uneori, școlile suportă cheltuielile pentru cărți, uniforme și examene. Istoria Irlandei a fost modelată de influența instituțiilor religioase în societate, inclusiv în sistemul de învățământ; prin urmare, Biserica Catolică joacă un rol important în educație: majoritatea școlilor primare, precum școlile naționale, sunt conduse de Biserică și subvenționate de stat. Majoritatea școlilor secundare – școli private pentru învățământul secundar – sunt de asemenea conduse de instituții catolice. În Irlanda, educația este obligatorie de la vârsta de 6 la 16 ani sau până când elevii au absolvit trei ani de învățământ secundar.

Școala primară este formată din opt clase. De obicei, elevii trec la școala secundară la vârsta de 12 ani. Nivelul al doilea este împărțit într-un ciclu junior și un ciclu senior. În învățământul secundar se predau atât materii generale, cât și profesionale.

Învățământul secundar include instituțiile de învățământ secundar, profesional, cuprinzător și colegiile comunitare. Numărul tinerilor care își continuă studiile după învățământul obligatoriu este ridicat: peste 90 % dintre tinerii de 16 ani, 75 % dintre tinerii de 17 ani și aproximativ 50 % dintre tinerii de 18 ani frecventează școala cu normă întreagă.

 

Educația în Irlanda: perspective de creștere

Provocările cu care se confruntă Irlanda pentru sistemul educațional sunt multiple. Irlanda încearcă să acomodeze o creștere rapidă a numărului de înscrieri. Cu toate acestea, înscrierile în învățământul primar sunt în scădere după ce au atins un vârf în 2018, iar înscrierile în învățământul post-primar continuă să crească puternic, cu o creștere de 34 300 între 2017 și 2021. Înscrierile în învățământul postsecundar cu normă întreagă cresc, de asemenea, rapid, cu o creștere de aproape 16 400 între 2017 și 2021 și 13 școli postsecundare suplimentare din 2017, reflectând creșterea substanțială a înscrierilor.

Sursă: Academia Europeană de Religie și Societate.

Numărul total de profesori a crescut cu peste 7 804 din 2017, de la 64 692 la 72 496. Raportul elev-profesor în școlile primare a scăzut de la 15,3 la 13,7 din 2017 și de la 12,8 la 12,2 în școlile secundare.

Irlanda nu numai că încearcă să crească numărul de înscrieri, dar promovează și un sistem școlar mai pluralist, care să acomodeze mai bine diversitatea, în special cea religioasă, în conformitate cu profilul în schimbare al populației. O serie de școli din Irlanda, din 2019, au început să devină primul transfer de la catolic la multiconfesional. Școlile vor implementa programe care să cuprindă și să includă diferite credințe și valori.

Participarea copiilor cu nevoi educaționale speciale a crescut în sistemul de învățământ. Irlanda dorește să ofere un sistem educațional care să sprijine participarea și progresul acestora pentru a se asigura că își pot atinge potențialul maxim. Este esențial ca școlile să aibă politici în vigoare pentru a face față oricăror dificultăți ale elevilor.

Pentru a menține calitatea și performanța la toate nivelurile sistemului de învățământ și pentru a face față lumii muncii, pentru a ține pasul cu lumea în schimbare, sistemul de educație și formare va juca un rol-cheie în satisfacerea nevoilor de competențe existente și emergente prin furnizarea de oportunități de educație, formare și dezvoltare a competențelor pentru cei care intră pe piața forței de muncă, precum și prin perfecționarea și recalificarea continuă a participanților existenți pe piața forței de muncă.

Fotografie de Jessica Lewis pe Unsplash

Cum a făcut față Irlanda problemelor educaționale în timpul covid-19 în 2020

Potrivit unui raport al ONU, aproape 190 de țări au impus închiderea școlilor, afectând 1,5 miliarde de copii și tineri. Ca atare, elevii au trebuit să înceapă să adopte noi metode de învățare, „învățământul de acasă”, iar profesorii și educatorii au trebuit să își schimbe modul de predare. Directorul general al UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, a garantat că Organizația Națiunilor Unite oferă ajutor pentru adaptarea la această situație, mai ales că colaborează cu țările pentru a asigura continuitatea învățării pentru toată lumea, în special pentru copiii și tinerii dezavantajați, care tind să fie cei mai afectați de închiderea școlilor.

În timpul pandemiei Covid-19, 94% dintre elevi au declarat că au folosit o combinație de manuale și instrumente digitale. Mulți elevi (79%) au indicat că nu au întâmpinat dificultăți și că, dacă ar fi fost, problemele ar fi fost abordate cu promptitudine. Majoritatea tinerilor și-au finalizat temele și au primit feedback-ul profesorului.

 

Bullying-ul în școli

Chiar dacă mulți copii și adolescenți frecventează școlile catolice, un număr tot mai mare de persoane nu practică această religie și pot participa la botezuri și comuniuni doar pentru că face parte din cultura irlandeză, mai degrabă decât pentru că au o credință reală în această practică, chiar dacă majoritatea școlilor din Irlanda sunt catolice. Aproape 80 % din populație își descrie religia ca fiind catolică, conform recensământului din 2016.

Practicanții religioși și elevii credincioși se simt vulnerabili, deoarece sunt în prezent o minoritate în școlile irlandeze.

Pentru a evita această problemă, școlile irlandeze trebuie să aibă un cod de comportament și un program și proceduri educaționale specifice care, împreună, formează planul școlii pentru a ajuta elevii din școală să se comporte bine și să învețe bine. De asemenea, echipele de sprijin școlar vor fi disponibile pentru a ajuta elevii care se confruntă cu hărțuirea, iar tot personalul va fi instruit ca parte a noului plan de acțiune.

 

Persoane defavorizate în Irlanda

În ciuda faptului că Irlanda are cea mai rapidă creștere economică din Europa, nivelurile de sărăcie sunt stabile. Copiii sunt mai predispuși decât populația generală să se confrunte cu o sărăcie continuă. Mai mult de 62 000 de copii trăiesc în sărăcie persistentă, iar alții sunt în pericol de sărăcie. Unul din cinci părinți nu are suficiente alimente pentru a-și hrăni copiii. Copiii care călătoresc mult, precum copiii romi, sunt deosebit de vulnerabili. Termenul „rom” este utilizat de Consiliul Europei pentru a se referi la romi, sinti, kale și grupurile înrudite din Europa, inclusiv călătorii și grupurile estice, precum Dom și Lom, și acoperă marea diversitate a grupurilor în cauză, inclusiv persoanele care se identifică ca „țigani”.

Conform datelor statistice din 2016, 2 % dintre copiii de 10 ani din Irlanda nu pot citi și înțelege un text simplu până la sfârșitul școlii primare. Persoanele din zonele rurale sunt potențial afectate negativ de dificultatea de a menține implicarea în educație sau de a avea acces la facilități.

De multe ori, dezavantajele educaționale sunt legate de factori socioeconomici, de exemplu, venituri insuficiente, locuințe precare, probleme de sănătate sau familiale. Copiii care s-au născut în familii sărace sau care locuiesc în zone defavorizate sunt cei mai expuși eșecului școlar și excluderii ulterioare de pe piața muncii. Tinerii care se confruntă cu dezavantaje sociale prezintă un risc mai mare de a fi expuși unor factori care au un impact asupra oportunității lor de a progresa cu succes în învățământul de prim și al doilea nivel.

Sursă: CSO Irlanda.

Concluzii și recomandări

Sistemul educațional al Irlandei a demonstrat puncte forte și realizări semnificative, confruntându-se în același timp cu provocări. Țara este ferm hotărâtă să ofere cetățenilor săi o educație de calitate, fapt evident prin infrastructura sa educațională bine structurată și accesibilă. Accentul pus de Irlanda pe educația preșcolară, investițiile în tehnologie și dedicarea față de incluziune au contribuit la crearea unui mediu de învățare pozitiv pentru elevii de diferite vârste și medii.

 

Sistemul educațional are multe merite, dar unele domenii pot fi îmbunătățite pentru a-i spori eficiența generală:

Irlanda ar trebui să investească mai mult decât o face în educație, în special la nivelurile primar și secundar; acest lucru este esențial pentru menținerea unor standarde și facilități de predare de înaltă calitate. O finanțare adecvată va garanta că toate școlile dispun de resursele necesare pentru a sprijini nevoile de învățare ale elevilor.

În ciuda progreselor înregistrate, disparitățile educaționale persistă în unele regiuni și în anumite categorii demografice. Guvernul ar trebui să se concentreze pe reducerea acestor decalaje prin punerea în aplicare a unor intervenții specifice, cum ar fi îmbunătățirea accesului la resurse și sprijin specializat pentru comunitățile defavorizate.

Dezvoltarea profesională continuă a cadrelor didactice este esențială pentru a ține pasul cu evoluția metodologiilor de predare și a tehnologiilor. Încurajarea și oferirea de oportunități pentru profesori de a-și îmbunătăți competențele va fi în beneficiul experienței de învățare a elevilor. Pe măsură ce peisajul educațional devine din ce în ce mai solicitant, este vital să se acorde prioritate serviciilor de sprijin în domeniul sănătății mintale pentru elevi, părinți și educatori; crearea unui mediu de învățare pozitiv și favorabil va ajuta elevii să se dezvolte din punct de vedere academic și emoțional.

 

Referințe:

Cybermobbing in Europe

Written by: Mayeda Tayyab 

Cyberbullying is a prevalent form of bullying in today’s society. It takes place through electronic communication channels (e.g. emails, social media, texts) to harass and intimidate someone. Bullies can target a person through various electronic mediums like text messages, social media applications, and emails. However, cyberbullying itself takes many forms, and cyber-mobbing is one of them. 

According to STOMP Out Bullying (2024), cyber-mobbing is a form of cyberbullying that is conducted by more than one person. It is a group of people that gang up on one person using rumours, intimidation, while making it seem like the victim is responsible for the reception of such treatment (victim blaming). This kind of cyberbullying is hard to track as the person responsible for instigating the attack hides behind multiple online aggressors. Being attacked by a group of people also makes it extremely hard for the victim to defend themselves, breeding the feeling of isolation. 

Real-life consequences 

Although cyberbullying primarily takes place online, it has real life implications. One such case is of Lindsay, a 13-year-old French girl who fell victim to online abuse, which led to her ending her own life. Even after the death of the victim, the online abuse against her continued as bullies made social media posts rejoicing about her taking her own life. The judicial investigation into this case led to the charging of four minors for “bullying leading to suicide” and one adult for “death threats” (The Brussels Times, 2023). In addition to this investigation, Lindsay’s family filed a lawsuit against Facebook for failing to tackle hate speech and violating their obligation to moderate the content on their platform. Another suchcase is of Lucas, 13, who committed suicide in 2023 after being bullied at school for months due to being gay. Four secondary school students were charged and found guilty of bullying in June 2023 in this case. 

Recent surveys have also shown that 10% of students in French schools face bullying by their school fellows via social media (RFI, 2023). In light of these cases, the French Minister of Education, Pap Ndiaye, announced that all middle schools will provide hour-long anti-cyberbullying sessions to students to raise awareness at the start of the 2023 academic year. The ministry also announced the appointment of a special advisor to each school to deal with such cases and increased the funding for helplines for students in distress. 

Nicole ‘Coco’ Fox, a 21-year-old Irish woman, also experienced the same fate as these French teenagers whenshe took her own life due to bullying. She hanged herself after suffering from three years of online and physical abuse. Through the intense campaigning efforts of Nicole’s mother to push for national legislation punishing bullying, Ireland finally adopted Coco’s Law in 2021 (Genovese, 2023). Under this law, any person who publishes intimate images of a person without consent will face prison for up to 7 years. This law has resulted in the prosecution of hundreds of people for cyberbullying and intimate image-based online abuse (Genovese, 2023). 

Legislation

There is no EU legislation on tackling online bullying across Europe because such legislation would not be legally binding. This leaves the issue of cyberbullying up to governments. After devastating cases of suicide among young people in France, Ireland, and Italy, laws that criminalise  cyberbullying to prevent further harm have been adopted, although the damage to the existing victims of such harassment is already done. Despite this, most European countries still have no laws in place to protect children from online abuse. Governments and policymakers must take a proactive approach to cyberbullying to prevent psychological and physical harm to young people as has been demonstrated by cases such as Lindsay and Nicole Fox. 

With minimal legal protection in most countries, the onus of tackling cyberbullying on a mass scale falls on social media companies. In Lindsay’s case, a lawsuit against Facebook claimed that they were aware of the hateful posts directed at Lindsay and failed to remove them from their platform. Facebook responded to these claims stating that any content reported to be hateful is removed by them. 

What are social media applications doing?

Facebook has partnered with NGOs to form the Online Civil Courage Initiative, funding campaigns against hate speech and terrorism on Facebook (Ambasna-Jones, 2016). Facebook polices the content on their platform through their reporting system. Therefore, unfortunately, if any hateful content is not reported, it goes unnoticed by Facebook. Furthermore, there is no data to show how many reports received by Facebook are resolved and result in the removal of abusive content and accounts (Ambasna-Jones, 2016). There is a block feature on the app to remove anyone who might be harassing someone on Facebook, however, it is not enough to tackle cyber-mobbing which involves multiple people targeting a single person as they can still spread hateful content to the friends of the victim through social media as well as other online channels. 

Instagram, owned by Facebook, also has a similar reporting mechanism against abusive content, hate speech, and underage users (below the age of 13). Instagram claims to have a 24/7 report monitoring system, which is responsible for the removal of hateful accounts and reporting the perpetrators to local authorities (Ambasna-Jones, 2016). However, similar to Facebook, there is no data to show the effectiveness of their reporting mechanisms. 

X (formerly known as Twitter) is grappling with similar issues as Facebook in this regard. Although they have improved their reporting mechanisms, there is no data to show how many of these reports are successful and their overall impact on tackling abuse on X. 

Although these social media platforms have mechanisms in place to police bullying and abusive content, they are not taking a proactive approach to stop online harassment, as evidenced by Lindsay’s case where people were posting hateful content about her event after her death and Facebook failed to remove it. There needs to be a system in place that would screen social media platforms for any abusive material without the need for reporting to address cyberbullying before the materialisation of any psychological or physical harm.

Consequently, cyber-mobbing is a growing issue amongst the children in Europe. The national governments and social media companies must collaborate to tackle this issue via the criminal justice system and electronic preventative measures to remove abusive material from online spaces before they cause any harm. 

References

The Legacy of Colonialism, Discrimination, and the High Cost of Living: Areas of Improvement for the Canadian Education System

Written by Enes Gisi

Canada is a wealthy country with rich natural resources and one of the highest GDPs in the world. Behind this wealth, however, lie deep inequalities in access to quality education. These barriers to education are not always confined to school buildings, as Indigenous peoples of Canada experience the impacts of Canada’s colonial past today. Other challenges in education include sexual abuse of kids, food insecurity, and lack of housing for post-secondary students. Addressing these challenges proves difficult as the three levels of the government – federal, provincial, and municipal, are each responsible for some of them. Taking effective and quick action, however, is a challenge for the Canadian bureaucracy. Government levels sometimes pass the responsibility for an issue back and forth, causing confusion among Canadians about who is responsible for what.

Children at Fort Simpson Indian Residential School holding letters that spell “Goodbye,” Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, 1922. Photo by J. F. Moran. Library and Archives Canada on Wikimedia Commons.

Access to Education for Indigenous Peoples of Canada

To understand why the Indigenous education system is especially troubled, it’s essential to investigate the historical injustices they suffered. Indigenous peoples (also referred to as “Aboriginal peoples”) are native to the land that we today call Canada. The colonization of the land began in the 16th century with the arrival of British and French colonizers. Indigenous peoples were called “savages” and were believed to be “less civilized” than the European Canadians (“Lower Education”, 2023). Beginning in the early 17th century, various forms of schooling systems were set up (Gordon & White, 2014). The first systems created by the French settlers aimed to “Francize” the Indigenous peoples. While the British settlers initially formed alliances with the Indigenous peoples against the French and the Americans, later their policy shifted towards the same goal: “civilizing” them. Until 1951, Indigenous children were forcibly separated from their families and placed in residential schools, where they were prohibited from speaking their native languages and practicing their cultures, all to “reclaim” them from “a state of barbarism” (Wilson,1986, p. 66, as cited in Gordon & White, 2014). They received low-quality education and experienced physical, emotional, and sexual abuse (White & Peters, 2009 as cited in Gordon & White, 2014). When they returned home, they could no longer connect with their families or the non-Indigenous society (“What Is The Root Cause Of Indigenous Education Issues”, 2015). The last residential school was shut down in 1996, but the legacy of colonialism and negligence on the part of the federal government are still affecting Indigenous children.

Housing

Indigenous people experience a significantly higher rate of homelessness compared to the Canadian average (“Inadequate Housing And Crowded Living Conditions”, 2023). However, the issue of inadequate housing may have a closer connection to student success. Nearly 25 percent of Indigenous children under the age of 15 live in low-income households, which is double the percentage for non-Indigenous children (“Inadequate Housing And Crowded Living Conditions”, 2023). One implication of this situation is that some families are residing in homes that are too small for their needs. Indigenous students living in overcrowded houses may not get enough sleep and be able to study or do their homework in a quiet space. These, in turn, may impact their mental health, school success, and secondary education and employment prospects.

Graduation rates

The rate of high school completion of Indigenous children living on reserves, land reserved exclusively for the First Nations people, is low at 24 percent. This number was initially misrepresented by the Canadian government when it published a report presenting the rate as 46 percent (Coates, 2022). This calculation didn’t account for the students who had dropped out between grades 9 and 11. According to a report by the Auditor General of Canada, the Canadian government had also neglected its reporting responsibilities concerning Indigenous education, reporting on only 6 out of the 23 education results it had committed to report on (Office of the Auditor General of Canada, 2018).

While Indigenous children living off-reserve generally had better educational prospects compared to those on-reserve, their graduation rate from off-reserve provincial schools was still lower than that of non-Indigenous children. According to a 2021 report, the rate of on-time high school graduation from provincial schools in Saskatchewan was 88.7 percent. Among these students, the on-time graduation rate of Indigenous students was 44.7 percent (Clemett, 2023).

When it comes to post-secondary education, the data also highlights disparities. First Nations people, one of the three groups within the Indigenous population, have a post-secondary completion or recent attendance to a post-secondary institution rate of 37 percent, whereas the rate for non-Indigenous individuals is significantly higher at 72 percent (Layton, 2023).

Students, a former premier of British Columbia, a former British Columbia minister, and an Indigenous leader gathered around a bonfire. Image via Flickr by @bchovphotos.

School Funding and Resources

Many Indigenous students go to school in difficult circumstances and need extra support from the education system. Most on-reserve Indigenous students are not able to continue their studies without some, in some cases extensive, school-provided support or direct intervention (Coates, 2022). In most Canadian schools, perhaps 80 percent of students can succeed without school-based services or intervention. A significant number of on-reserve Indigenous students, sometimes one in three or more, however, require extensive support from their schools to succeed.

The ability of reserve schools to provide services to their students is, however, limited due to insufficient funding from the federal government. First Nations schools receive 30 percent less funding per student compared to other schools (Dart, n.d.). This leads to one obvious thing: Indigenous children are disadvantaged. They don’t have access to as many social workers, mental health professionals, and special education instructors. Alethea Wallace, a (former) principal of the Alexis School, a First Nation school, describes how inadequate funding impacts the school (Hampshire, n.d.). She says that the school is not able to offer art, drama, and music programs due to lack of funding. It also does not have a science lab or a computer lab. Parts of the school are utilized for unrelated purposes: the library and the janitor’s office as classrooms. Kristina Alexis, a student from the school, says her classroom hosts two classes at the same time where two teachers teach different subjects. Classes are overcrowded, and most classrooms are split among two grade levels.

Evan Taypotat, a former principal of Chief Kahkewistahaw Community School, and the current chief of the Kahkewistahaw First Nation, says “The average funding for a reserve kid is about $6,800 (Dart, n.d.). The funding for a kid in Broadview, which is about 10 minutes away, is $11,000.” Federal funding increases for reserve schools are capped at an annual 2 percent, which is lower than the inflation rate in Canada. There are two main issues that Indigenous leaders are currently seeking to resolve: gaining control over how federal education funding is allocated and advocating for more funding to match the funding other schools receive. Granting First Nations control over how the money is spent may allow them to implement more culturally appropriate systems.

A student bullying a classmate who’s sitting at her desk. Photo by RDNE Stock project from Pexels.

Racism, Exclusion, and Violence in School

A comprehensive 2023 report published by Children First Canada shows that bullying and violence among Canadian children have become serious threats to children’s well-being (Children First Canada, 2023). Students avoid visiting washrooms where they would get bullied, even if it means soiling themselves. Bullying mainly occurs at school or in online environments. The report highlights that 7 in 10 students between the ages of 15 and 17 experience bullying. Violence and hate speech remain pervasive problems in school and sports settings.

Most disabled students experience discrimination and exclusion. According to a 2022 report from the New Brunswick Office of the Child, Youth, and Seniors’ Advocate, only 1 in 5 disabled students feel like they belong, and they often feel unsafe at school (“Advocate Releases Office of the Child Report, 2022). Their participation in sports is also lower compared to their peers.

Jacqueline, a Jewish-Canadian high school student in Toronto says she experiences antisemitism as some people make references to Hitler or draw swastikas (Wong, 2023). She says that these acts are seen as funny among these people. She finds the Holocaust education at school insufficient in countering the hateful content that young people share online.

Sexual violence statistics are alarming. According to the 2022 report by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, between 2017 and 2021, “at least 548 children and youth” in kindergarten to grade 12 “experienced an act of sexual nature made by 252 school personnel”, and 38 school personnel were criminally charged for offences related to illicit digital content involving minors (Children First Canada, 2023).

Religious students from Quebec who practice their faith face a discriminatory challenge due to a directive from the Quebec Education Minister, Bernard Drainville. This directive prohibited “any practice of religious activity” in schools and other education centres (Feith, 2023). According to a legal challenge in response to the ban, Muslim students had been praying in a designated area in a school for months with no issues. The father of a Muslim student in Quebec says that his child is now forced to pray in secret, without knowing the consequences if he’s found praying at school.

Workers handling food hampers. Image via Flickr, by @bcgovphotos.

Food Insecurity

Canada is the only G7 country that doesn’t have a national school food program (Alphonso, 2023). Many Canadian students rely on food programs that are funded by provinces and charities. One in five, or roughly a million students, are receiving assistance in the form of meals and snacks. An educational assistant in an Ontario school says that some students would not be able to come to school if the school didn’t provide food hampers. The charity working with the school says the increasing demand strains their budget. Black and off-reserve Indigenous children are more likely to live in food-insecure households than their White counterparts (Children First Canada, 2023).

Post-secondary affordability

The rising cost of living is leaving university students unable to afford food and rent. More than 60% of university students reported earning less than 20,000 dollars a year, and almost 3 in 4 students (72%) reported allocating 30% or more of their income to paying rent (Cameron et.al., 2023). Centre for Addiction and Mental Health states that there’s a “critical” lack of affordable housing in Canada (“Housing and Mental Health Policy Framework”, 2022). Mateusz, a University of Calgary Student’s Union representative, says that the university is being irresponsible by admitting too many students without supplying housing (Tran, 2023). He says that rents are skyrocketing and argues there’s a housing crisis (Kaufmann, 2023). There have been students who lived in their cars in Calgary due to the housing shortage, he adds. Some students were only able to find housing in remote areas, where commuting to the campus became an issue (Derworiz, 2023). In addition, two in five university students experience food insecurity, more than half of them reported they could only afford low-quality food, and 1 in 6 students said they had days where they couldn’t eat at all.

Concluding Remarks and Recommendations

Indigenous peoples’ rights are protected by international law, most prominently under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was an important step in the right direction. It was a government initiative that was mandated to collect testimonies from the victims of the Residential School System. It helped create public awareness and encouraged further action to reconcile with the Indigenous peoples. Jack Harris, a former National Democratic Party Member of Parliament, cites Canada’s poor Indigenous rights record as one of the potential reasons why Canada lost its 2020 bid for a temporary seat at the United Nations Security Council (Harris, 2020). Providing Indigenous communities with the necessary legal and material tools to offer culture-appropriate and high-quality education should be Canada’s priority.

Another significant challenge seems to be the increasing cost of living. More post-secondary students experience food and housing insecurity, two things people shouldn’t have to worry about when pursuing higher education. From students living in their cars to students living in overcrowded houses, the high cost of living in Canada is taking a toll on students’ well-being. Better student loans and grants and more student residences provided by the universities can help.

References
  • Alphonso, C. (2023, March 15). With food costs soaring and no national program, Canadian schools struggle to feed students. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-school-food-programs-rising-costs/
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Ireland’s educational system, educational challenges and the purposes of improvement

Written by Stefania Grace Tangredi

Source: Journal of Rural Studies

Ireland’s territory is divided into two parts: Ireland, sometimes referred to as “the Republic of Ireland”, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.  Ireland is a member of the European Union.

The population of the country in 1926 was 2,971,922, increasing to 4982 million in 2023. Ireland became a free state in 1922, a parliamentary democracy governed by the 1937 Constitution of Ireland.  The official languages are both English and Irish.

From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Irish economy was growing and increasing not only in the political field but also in the educational field. In 2008 unemployment increased, and GDP dropped in growth. The recovery plan agreed upon at that time required a significant cut in public spending and a range of measures to stabilize finances and return to growth; Ireland exited successfully at the end of 2013. The Expenditures on Education by the Government are 3.72 % as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP); this is lower than both the regional average (4.6%) and the average for its income group (4.5%).

Ireland’s educational system

In Ireland, attendance at National Schools is free, and the State must provide free primary education. Some private elementary schools charge a fee. Attendance at most secondary schools is free, but some private schools charge a fee for the families, even in secondary education. Sometimes the schools bear the expenses for books, uniforms and exams. The history of Ireland has been shaped by the influence of religious institutions in society, including the education system; therefore, the Catholic Church plays an important role in education: most primary schools, like the National Schools, are run by the Church and subsidized by the State. Most Secondary Schools – private schools for secondary education – are also run by Catholic institutions. Education in Ireland is obliged from age 6 to 16, or until students have completed three years of secondary education.

Source: Europe Academy of Religion and Society.

Elementary school consists of eight grades. Pupils typically advance to secondary school at age 12. The Second Level is divided into a Junior Cycle and a Senior Cycle. Both general and vocational subjects are taught in secondary education.

Secondary education includes secondary institutions, vocational, comprehensive and community colleges. The number of young people continuing their education after compulsory education is high: more than 90 % of 16-year-olds, 75 % of 17-year-olds, and about 50 % of 18-year-olds attend school full-time.

Education in Ireland: outlook for growth

The challenges faced by Ireland for the education system are multiple. Ireland is trying to accommodate a rapid increase in enrolment. However, primary enrolment is declining after reaching a peak in 2018, and post-primary enrolment continues to grow strongly, increasing by 34,300 between 2017 and 2021. Full-time postsecondary education enrollment is also rising rapidly, with an increase of nearly 16,400 between 2017 and 2021 and 13 additional postsecondary schools since 2017, reflecting the substantial increase in enrolment.

The total number of teachers has increased by over 7,804 since 2017, from 64,692 to 72,496. The student-teacher ratio in elementary schools has decreased from 15.3 to 13.7 since 2017 and from 12.8 to 12.2 in secondary schools.

Not only is Ireland trying to increase enrolment, but it’s also promoting a more pluralistic school system that better accommodates diversity, especially religious diversity, in line with the changing profile of the population. A number of schools in Ireland, from 2019, have started to become the first transfer from catholic to multi-denominational.  The schools will implement programs to encompass and include different beliefs and values.  

The participation of children with special education needs has increased in the education system. Ireland wants to provide an education system that supports their participation and advancement to ensure they can reach their full potential. It is essential that schools have policies in place to deal with any difficulties of the students.

To maintain the quality and performance of all levels of the education system and to face the work world, to keep up with the changing world, the education and training system will play a key role in meeting existing and emerging skill needs by providing education, training, and skill development opportunities for those entering the workforce, as well as ongoing upskilling and retraining of existing labour market participants.

How did Ireland face the educational issues during covid-19 in 2020

According to a UN report, nearly 190 countries have imposed school closures, affecting 1.5 billion children and young people. As so, students had to start to adopt new learning, “learning from home education,” and teachers and educators had to change their way of teaching. The UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay guaranteed that United Nations was providing aid to adapt to this situation, especially since they were working with countries to ensure the continuity of learning for everybody, particularly disadvantaged children and youth who tend to be the hardest hit by school closures.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, 94% of students said they used a combination of textbooks and digital tools. Many students (79%) indicated no difficulties had been experienced, and if they had, the issues would have been addressed promptly. Most young people completed their assignments and received the teacher’s feedback.

Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash

Bullying in schools

Even if a lot of children and adolescents attend Catholic Schools, a growing number of people do not practice the religion and may attend Christenings and Communions just because it is part of Irish culture rather than having any genuine belief in the practice, even though the majority of schools in Ireland are Catholic schools. Nearly 80% of the population describes their religion as Catholic, according to the 2016 Census.

Religious practicians and committed students feel vulnerable as they are a minority in Irish schools now.

To avoid this problem, Irish schools must have a code of behaviour and a specific educational program and procedures that together form the school’s plan to help students in the school to behave well and learn well. Also, school support teams will be available to help students experiencing bullying, and all the staff will be trained as part of the new action plan.

Disadvantaged people in Ireland

Despite having the fastest-growing economy in Europe, poverty levels in Ireland are stable. Children are more likely than the overall population to experience ongoing poverty.  More than 62,000 children live in persistent poverty, and others are in danger of poverty. One in five parents do not have enough food to feed their children. Children who travel a lot, like the Roman children, are particularly vulnerable. The term “Roma” is used by the Council of Europe to refer to Roma, Sinti, Kale and related groups in Europe, including Travellers and the Eastern groups, like Dom and Lom, and covers the wide diversity of the groups concerned, including persons who identify themselves as “Gypsies”.

Source: CSO Ireland.

From statistical data 2016, 2 % of 10-year-olds in Ireland cannot read and understand a simple text by the end of primary school. Those in rural areas are potentially negatively affected by difficulty in maintaining involvement in education or accessing facilities.

Educational disadvantages are often related to socio-economic factors, for example, inadequate income, poor housing,  health or family problems. Children who have been born into poor households or live in deprived areas are most subject to educational failure and subsequent labour market exclusion. Young people who experience social disadvantage are at a higher risk of being exposed to factors that impact their opportunity to progress successfully through first and second-level education.

Conclusions and recommendations

Ireland’s education system has shown significant strengths and achievements while facing challenges. The country is firmly committed to providing quality education to its citizens, evident through its well-structured and accessible education infrastructure. Ireland’s emphasis on early childhood education, investments in technology, and dedication to inclusivity have contributed to a positive learning environment for students of various ages and backgrounds.

The education system has many merits, but some areas can be improved to enhance its overall effectiveness:

Ireland should invest more than it does in education, particularly at the primary and secondary levels; this is crucial to maintaining high-quality teaching standards and facilities. Adequate funding will ensure all schools have the necessary resources to support students’ learning needs.

Despite progress, educational disparities persist in some regions and among specific demographics. The government should focus on narrowing these gaps by implementing targeted interventions, such as improved access to resources and specialized support for disadvantaged communities.

Continuous professional development for educators is essential to keep up with evolving teaching methodologies and technologies. Encouraging and providing opportunities for teachers to enhance their skills will benefit the student’s learning experience. As the education landscape becomes increasingly demanding, prioritizing mental health support services for students, parents, and educators is vital; creating a positive and supportive learning environment will help students thrive academically and emotionally.

References