October Executive Meeting

We had our October Executive Meeting last Thursday which I chaired before going onto the Annual Dublin Chamber of Commerce Dinner.

Highlight of the meeting was a Presentation by our Education Advisor Paul Sheridan and STEPS Manager Caitriona Geraghty giving an update on the Educational Initiatives this year by Engineers Ireland.

Paul is particularly involved in the whole educational policy space in terms of curriculum reform at Second Level. This includes the whole new Project Maths issue, a new look Junior Cycle involving less subjects but more 'learning' and a new Science Curriculum at both Junior and Senior Cycle.

Paul has also been engaging with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and the Teaching Council (TC) who are responsible for teacher registration at Second Level. This engagement has included finding a 'roadmap for engineers' to enter the Second Level teaching profession especially for Maths and Science subjects.

Caitriona outlined the current STEPS programme in a strategic alliance with Discover Science and Engineering which is currently part of Forfas. There is the National Xperience event for Primary Schools every year in the Helix. For Second Level schools tremendous work is being done in conjunction with University of Limerick National Centre of Excellence for Maths and Science and with various industry players to produce case studies to illustrate the role and importance of Maths and Science in the day to day operation of these industries (eg Wavebob, Defence Forces, Shell, Arup etc).

Barry Stokes our Communications Executive gave a presentation on our Free Junior and Senior Certificate Maths Grinds on a Saturday in Clyde Road. These grinds need a lot of logistical and institutional support to the Engineer Volunteer Tim Joyce BE. These Saturday events are currently oversubscribed in Dublin with a substantial waiting list.

We are currently looking to extending the Free Maths Grinds to the cities of Cork Limerick and Galway with the support of the local Regional Committees of Engineers Ireland over the course of the current year.

All in all the current support that Engineers Ireland gives to Education in Ireland at primary, second and third level is truly phenomenal. It has increased exponentially over the past year with the same staffing levels as in 2010. This is all achieved by truly remarkable Engineers Ireland staff Paul Sheridan, Caitriona Geraghty and Barry Stokes at the various levels coupled with the Third Level Liaison by Julie Goggins and Richard Wilson.