822. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason a highly-regarded European programme (details supplied) cannot get her Departments support. [42157/26]

I am aware of the “Key to the EU” programme and the team behind it have been in contact with my department. As with other similar programmes I acknowledge the work that goes into developing such programmes and the positive intentions behind it.

However, apart from a small number of prescribed texts at post-primary level, determined by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), decisions on textbooks, programmes and products to use in primary and post-primary schools are taken at school level.

The Education Act, 1998 sets out the key roles and functions that are discharged by patrons and boards of management in the running of schools. The Act provides that it is the duty of the board of management to manage the school on behalf of the patron, for the benefit of the students and their parents and to provide or cause to be provided an appropriate education for each student at the school. The principal is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school, including guidance and direction of the teachers and non-teaching staff of the school and is accountable to the board for that management.

This statutory position underpins the current policy within the department not to endorse or promote any particular programme, product or publication to support teaching and learning. There are a small number of exceptions where the department has procured textbooks or resources in order to fill a need but there is no obligation for a school to use any particular textbook or programme in their delivery of the curriculum.

External companies and organisations are free to make direct contact with schools with regard to their own resources. In terms of content, the Department of Education and Youth does not have a role in approving, commissioning, sponsoring or endorsing any content in any publication or product. The only requirement from the department, on any resource used in a school, is that it is relevant to the curriculum. Ultimately, the decision on which resources, if any, most appropriately covers the curriculum, rests within the school itself.