A response by Dr. Áine Hyland, University College, Dublin, to the Green Paper: Education for a Changing World

Hyland, Áine

A response by Dr. Áine Hyland, University College, Dublin, to the Green Paper: Education for a Changing World

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Aine Hyland - A response by Dr Aine Hyland.pdf(13.23 MB)

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Date

1992-08-22

Authors

Hyland, Áine

Publisher

Irish Times

Abstract

The Green Paper which was published in June 1992 is an historic document and presages the start of a new era in Irish education. The three Ministers involved in its preparation and their advisers must be congratulated in bringing it to this point. Following a period of consultation, the Minister intends to issue a White Paper and to follow that with legislation. It had been expected that the proposed legislation would be all-embracing - a major education act, perhaps of the scale of the 1988 Education Act in England with its 238 clauses and 13 schedules. It now seems more likely that the outcome of the current debate will be a series of education acts, each addressing different aspects and possibly different levels of education. Unfortunately, the delay in publishing the Green Paper (it was originally mooted by Minister Mary O'Rourke over two years ago) creates timing difficulties for the government. The term of office of the present government cannot extend for more than another 18 months and it seems increasingly likely that we will have a General Election within a year. The discussion period for the Green Paper will not end before December of this year. (Earlier this year the Minister indicated that he looked forward to "six months of a Great Education Debate which will forge a national consensus of where Irish education is going''). An internal Departmental team working full-time on the drafting of a White Paper (if such a team could be released from their ordinary duties in the Department) could not be expected to complete it before Easter of 1993. The drafting of legislation - even a relatively simple initial bill - would take at least a further three months (assuming that parliamentary draughtpersons are available and not otherwise engaged on other legislation). This means that we cannot realistically expect to see new educational legislation being debated in the Houses of the Oireachtas until after the summer recess of 1993 at the earliest. Consequently the likelihood of an Education Act being passed during the lifetime of the present government is becoming increasingly remote. This however should not prevent us from participating in the current debate and from addressing the issues raised in the Green Paper with "clarity and courage" as urged by Minister O'Rourke in March 1991. This is an opportunity to consider Irish education in its totality and to agree an overall plan for educational development which will bring us well into the next millenium.

Keywords

Green Paper , 1992 , Irish education

Citation

Hyland, Á. (1992) 'A response by Dr. Áine Hyland, University College, Dublin, to the Green Paper: Education for a Changing World', Education Review - a supplement to the Irish Times, 22 August 1992.