The CAO system for accessing third-level education could be reformed under new plans from the government.
The changes would see easier access to apprenticeships and other alternative paths to college.
The Department of Higher Education and Research is a new creation of this government and this morning Minister Simon Harris will set out its first plans for reform of the sector.
Chief among them changes to the CAO system for accessing third-level education.
At present, the CAO doesn’t include things like apprenticeships, further education options or traineeships.
The new plans would see one platform offer college and university courses as well as alternative pathways in education in one portal amid fears that the options for students are being limited too early under the current system.
It would also create a single credit system to make it easier to move from further to higher education courses.
The plan will commit to increasing the number of apprenticeships in Ireland to 10,000 a year by 2025, up from around 6,000 in 2019.
The plan will also include a strategy for international education. CAO figures for this year show 2,600 people who would have applied to the UK for third level now seeking education in Ireland and an increase in the number of British students studying here, something seen as an impact of Brexit.
Legislation’s also being considered to give further powers to the Higher Education Authority and to reduce the size of governing authorities while a ten-year plan for literacy and numeracy will be launched as one in five people have difficulty reading and one in eight have trouble with numbers.
