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The national education conference organised by Education & Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) took place in Wexford on 26 September.
Ireland’s 16 education and training boards (ETB) are the leading State providers of education and training in Ireland.
Collectively, they have responsibility for 30 community national schools and 250 post-primary schools with over 117,000 students.
ETBs also deliver further education and training to over 226,000 learners each year across 500 learner locations and play a central role in the delivery of apprenticeships and traineeships in partnership with employers.
The conference, entitled ‘Hear my voice: the learner in education & citizenship’, had a strong focus on media literacy, misinformation and disinformation, with an expert panel discussion moderated by journalist and author Aoife Barry.
Equality
On the day, ETBI general secretary Paddy Lavelle emphasised the importance of equality in education.
“We believe that everyone deserves excellence in education and training, which is why we are asking the political representatives here today to prioritise ETBs in their party manifestos and the next programme for government.
“We want to see more multi-denominational community national schools, an increased deputy principal allocation for disadvantaged schools and appropriate funding for the essential further education, training and youth services our ETBs provide,” said Paddy.
Representatives from the main political parties and members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education, including Sinn Fein TD Sorca Clark, Labour’s Senator Annie Hoey, Fianna Fail’s Senator Malcolm Byrne and Green TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh, took part in a panel discussion.
They were quizzed on a wide variety of topics including teacher shortages, the need for more multi-denominational primary schools, therapeutic supports for students with special needs and banning mobile phones in post-primary schools.
Keynote speech
Attendees also heard a moving keynote address from former ETB learner Deborah Somorin, charting her journey from homelessness at 13, pregnancy at 14 and motherhood at 15 to becoming a chartered accountant and author.
During her address, Deborah said: "Growing up in the care system and becoming a teenage mother could have set my life on a difficult path, but education opened doors for me that I never thought possible.
"It allowed me to take control of my future and go on to become a chartered accountant. My story is proof that when learners are heard and supported, they can overcome challenges and achieve great things.”
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