More than 5,000 applications have been received to take part in the convention on education which will take place over four weekends this year.
The big number shows the appetite for a voice in how education policy will be determined going forward. However, places are limited to just 150.
As Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton recently confirmed, this convention is the first time that children and young people will be full members. Along with education stakeholders, parents and school staff, they will participate in discussions on the future of education in Ireland.
While the deadline for applications for convention membership has passed, there is still time for members of the public to have their say into how our education system needs to evolve.
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On January 14th, the Department of Education and Youth launched a National Conversation on Education which remains open until February 28th (the survey is accessible via the convention website).
The findings from this will help identify the themes that will be discussed by those selected to take part.
This conversation has been described by the Department as “a once-in-a-generation opportunity for children, young people, parents, educators and wider society to help shape Ireland’s education system for decades to come”.
Participation is possible through a number of different means, including completing a survey as an individual or on behalf of an organisation, making a submission, and via a number of school community engagement events and regional events which will take place across the country.
The last convention was nearly 33 years ago, led by Prof Dervilla Donnelly as chair and Prof John Coolahan as secretary general of the secretariat and author of the Report. It was held in Dublin Castle from October 11th – 21st, 1993.
Some 42 organisations came together to engage in a discussion on the key issues facing education policy in Ireland. In many ways, this 1993 convention shaped the system as we know it today, paving the way for the Education Act of 1998, and the establishment of a number of national agencies that impact on curriculum, special education needs, regulation of the teaching profession, research and Irish-language and Gaeltacht education.
Of course, the intervening period has seen the advent of social media, smart technology including AI, and increased awareness of and evidence for climate change. As Naughton noted at the launch of the National Conversation: “There have been profound global changes over recent decades, including globalisation, pandemics, Brexit and of course, the arrival of the internet and digital world.
“The challenge our education system faces is how to equip the young people of today with the necessary skills to help them thrive and adapt in an ever-changing world, where AI is a reality and where all aspects of daily life including leisure, study and work are continuously changing. That leads to profound questions we must address and seek to answer.
“What will be our place in this new world? What skills will our young people need to thrive in the future? How will we navigate a world we can only begin to imagine?”
The Department wants to reach as wide an audience as possible in the National Conversation, to gather a diversity of views from all age groups and different walks of life, and to hear from everyone, not just those going through the education system or working in it currently.
The National Conversation survey is divided into three parts.
Section one – Your experience of education today.
It poses the question: “Think about children or young people in your life or community. What parts of the education system are working well for them in your opinion?”
Section two – What changes are you seeing?
It asks: “What are the biggest changes you have noticed in education for children and young people?”
Section three – Your hopes for the future.
It asks: “Think about a child or young person in your life. What do you hope school and learning will be like in Ireland in 2040?” and “Keep this future vision you have just described in mind. How does education need to evolve to support children and young people to shape their own futures, contribute to their communities, and thrive in a changing world?”
The questions in the survey were based on themes that have emerged through previous engagement with stakeholders, school communities and members of the public. This includes a pilot survey by the Department of Education and Youth of attendees at the Ploughing Championships in September 2025.
The Department has been encouraging any individual or organisation with an interest in the future of education to get involved and complete a survey or enter a submission on behalf of their group or organisation. They are also inviting schools to hold their own conversations about the future of education. These discussions can take place with pupils, staff, parents, guardians, or the wider school community. Schools can submit their views through the “submissions” feature at the end of the survey.
So what happens next?
The data from the National Conversation, including from school community engagements, the national survey and submissions, will be independently reviewed to identify emerging themes. This will inform a draft agenda for the convention on education for consideration and approval of the Government.
The Minister is expected to bring the draft agenda to Cabinet colleagues in late April, or early May.
The convention, chaired by Prof Anne Looney, will meet four times over weekends in March, May, September and November 2026 to discuss key issues about the future of education.
It will comprise 150 people across four groups: Children and young people (30); Parents and guardians (30); School employees and early years educators (30) and Education stakeholders (60).
Children and young people will be at the centre of the process, reflecting their important role as citizens now and into the future. The progress to date on the participation of children and young people in policy and decision making acknowledges their citizenship in the here and now, shaping the world around them, as well as aspiring to take their place in the world of tomorrow.
A process of random selection will identify the 90 participants for the children and young people, parents and guardians and school employees and early years educators groups. Successful applicants will be informed in the coming weeks, following verification procedures.
Looney noted at the launch: “At one level it seems a bit strange to be launching a conversation that feels as if it goes on all the time in Ireland.
“Across the island and across the generations, people are so interested in education in all its stages and in all its forms that in some ways the national conversation on education is a daily happening; at school gates, in staff rooms, in taxis, at family and social gatherings – it’s always on the agenda.”
However, she pointed out that those regular conversations tend to focus on the present – they rarely look to the longer term future of the education system. And because of that, the system can find itself reacting to an issue or a crisis, rather than being proactive.
The National Conversation offers a particular process to encourage people to think beyond the present and the immediate challenges, to think about the future of education in Ireland, according to Looney.
The outcome of the survey and the school community engagements will then inform the convention that will meet for the first time towards the end of March with the job of advising the Government on a direction of travel - a North Star – for the system into the future.
Looney closed her speech by directly addressing the children and young people at the launch, asking them to imagine themselves in 30 years time. In talking about how school was that day in 2056, they could say to their children, and perhaps even their grandchildren, that they were there in 2026 at the launch of the National Conversation on Education.
In truth, everyone has that opportunity now to influence the future of education by participating in the survey.
It is understood that a report from the convention is expected in early 2027. Following the close of the convention in late 2026, the report will include recommendations for the future of education in Ireland. The report’s recommendations will inform a new long-term Department of Education and Youth strategy for education in Ireland: Our Schools, Our Future.
In a world that has changed beyond recognition in the last 30 plus years, its observations will be very eagerly awaited.
