Last month I had the pleasure of visiting the CAL (Culture, Arts and Leisure) committee. This is an oversight committee which, as far as I can tell, exists to make sure that the department (DCAL) is doing what it is meant to be doing.
Our report was originally submitted as a response to the CAL Committee Inquiry into the Creative Industries. (600K, PDF)
While I think that DCAL is doing everything it can do serve the varied and fragmented responsibility that falls under its satrapy, our session of giving evidence concentrated on more pressing issues. You can read the transcripts of all of the session at the NIAssembly Web Site here (and our specific transcript here)
Some selections:
Is the curriculum in post-primary schools aligned to the type of developments that have taken place in the industry and market?
Absolutely not.
We cannot express how bad the situation is. We may take some responsibility in that it happened on our watch, but the information and communication technology (ICT) qualification is utterly unsuitable for a digital economy. Essentially, we have given people GCSEs and A levels in the 21st century equivalent of typing.
…
People in the industry do not understand the maximum student number (MaSN) cap, and I do not understand it. We are artificially restricting the number of people that we need for the industry.
Read more. It’s incredibly relevant to our industry, as are the other transcripts on that page.