THE Department of Education has published its first public strategy statement since the foundation of the State, and has sent a copy to every school.
The document, entitled Implementing the Agenda for Change, was introduced at a press conference at the Department's Dublin headquarters yesterday, which was attended by all its senior officials.
It outlines the changes which have taken place in education since the 1995 White Paper; the Department's functions and structures; and how the White Paper will be implemented up to the end of this year.
The Secretary of the Department, Dr Don Thornhill said: "Most of us were raised in a climate in which Ireland was seen as a peripheral country. Peripherality is part of our mindset.
"That could become a matter of the past as our membership of the European Union and developments in the world economy give us the capacity no longer to be peripheral. And education is the key factor in that task of national development."
The Assistant Secretary, Mr John Dennehy, said management consultants Deloitte and Touche had been contracted to advise the Department on restructuring it internally and through the proposed education boards.
The report would cost £112,000 and would be ready by March or April.
Dr Thornhill emphasised that the establishment of the education boards would be "very much a rolling, gradual thing", a phased process with "no quick change from the Department to education boards carrying out tasks".
After more than 65 years without a single piece of non-university education legislation, the Department has to deal with six major pieces of legislation over the next 18 months: the Universities Bill, the Education Bill, the Youthwork Bill, the School Attendance Bill, a further education Bill and the Bill to set up the national certification authority, Teastas.
The School Attendance Bill, which is at the stage of drafting heads of agreement, will deal with matters like the tracking of pupils' attendance records throughout their school lives and the role of school attendance officers.