Education in ireland
| Minister for Education and Skills |
Richard Bruton |
|---|---|
| Budget | €9.527 billion |
| Primary languages | English, Irish |
| System type | National |
| Compulsory education | 1922 |
| Total | 99 % |
| Male | 99 % |
| Female | 99 % |
| Total | 1,091,632 |
| Primary | 544,696 |
| Secondary | 372,296 |
| Post secondary | 174,640 |
| Secondary diploma | 89% |
| Post-secondary diploma | 47% |
The levels of education in Ireland are primary, secondary and higher (often known as "third-level" or tertiary) education. In recent years further education has grown immensely. Growth in the economy since the 1960s has driven much of the change in the education system. For universities there are student service fees (up to €3,000 in 2015), which students are required to pay on registration, to cover examinations, insurance and registration costs.
The Department of Education and Skills, under the control of the Minister for Education and Skills, is in overall control of policy, funding and direction, while other important organisations are the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, the Higher Education Authority, and on a local level the Education and Training Boards are the only comprehensive system of government organisation. There are many other statutory and non-statutory bodies that have a function in the education system. The current Minister for Education is Richard Bruton.
Students must go to school from ages 6 to 16 or until they have completed three years of second-level of education. Under the Constitution of Ireland, parents are not obliged "in violation of their conscience and lawful preference to send their children to schools established by the State, or to any particular type of school designated by the State." However the parental right to home-educate his/her child has met legal contests over minimum standards in the absence of constitutional provision for State-defined educational standards.
In 1973 the Irish language requirement for a second-level certificate was abandoned. However the Irish language remains a core subject taught in all public schools with exemptions given to individual pupils on grounds of significant periods lived abroad, or with learning difficulties etc.
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Wikipedia