The Irish Department of Education is set to publish its national education goals, which will set the agenda for schools in the next four years.
The department says it will set out targets for students at the start of the next school term, with a focus on literacy, numeracy and the arts.
The Department of Children, Youth and Families has also announced plans to spend €1.4 billion on literacy and numeracy projects in the coming school year.
Its aims include encouraging children to learn to read at home and to make them more involved in local community life.
The aim of the new curriculum is to provide the skills needed to prepare for university and further education.
The Education Minister, Joan Burton, said the new plan will help children learn to “understand and communicate with others, to think critically, to use their senses, and to have fun”.
“The new curriculum will help students to:”Read more, write more, read better and write better, all the things they need to know to thrive in the 21st century,” she said.
The programme is part of a government plan to improve literacy in Ireland, with plans to double the number of free school places by 2025.
The new education strategy comes just weeks after the Irish government launched a new literacy strategy.
The government is also planning to spend around €1 billion to improve schools in rural areas and introduce free and reduced-price breakfast meals for the next year.
The first budget will see the State spend up to €10 billion on infrastructure projects across the country, with €6.5 billion earmarked for schools and €2 billion to fund sports and recreation projects.
This article first appeared on The Irish News at 11.40am on Tuesday, July 27, 2019.
