
Harry
Youth Assembly Member
Northern Ireland’s current Curriculum was introduced in 2007 and was intended to be a ‘broad, skills-based’ curriculum to prepare the young people of Northern Ireland for the world of life and work. The Department for Education has decided that there should be a review to look at how the current curriculum design compares to international best practice; the curriculum content and design and how it addresses educational disadvantage and inequality.
Therefore, on the 9th of January 2025, Youth Assembly Members took part in a meeting with Lucy Crehan, who is conducting the review, and gave her our views on the current curriculum. We told her what we thought were the strengths and weaknesses of the current curriculum and talked about how make it more suitable for the world of today. Among other things, we discussed Leaning for Life and Work, PE, transfer tests, and GCSEs.
Personally, I enjoyed hearing from other Members about GCSEs, something that many of us, including me, anticipate in the near future. It was interesting to hear what other Members thought about the content of the GCSEs. Some thought that there was too much being packed into a small amount of time whilst others believed that we should change the content of the GCSEs, and that there are some essential topics that aren’t being included. Many intriguing points were made.
Lucy listened attentively and took note of what we said. I hope we all were of some benefit to her. I think that it is great that she came to hear our opinions, as, after all, the curriculum review will be something which may not affect us that much but will likely greatly affect those who will be in our age group in years to come.
Looking forward, all Members who attended the online meeting are invited to attend another meeting on the topic in Parliament Buildings, Stormont, on the 30th of January. There, we hope to go more in depth on the review and wish to make a positive impact on the future revised curriculum. This necessary review is something that we should all value and hope will improve the education of Northern Ireland’s future and current students.
Hope you all enjoyed the blog! 😊