Press release
Minister of State receives report of the Cyber Security Education Working Group
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, Ossian Smyth, was on hand today at University College Dublin to receive a copy of the interim report ‘Developing a Junior Cycle Short Course in Cyber Security’.
This report takes stock of the development of the Short Course in Cyber Security and provides some guidance on the next steps to sustain this initiative. The short course was a recommendation of the National Cyber Security Strategy 2019-2024 with the aim of introducing a cyber security education in secondary schools. The course, which was piloted in 20 post-primary schools across the country in 2021/2022, takes a multidisciplinary approach and encompasses aspects of psychology, law, ethics, communications and crisis management, as well as computer sciences.
Minister Smyth met with Prof. Joe Carthy, Chair of the Working Group, and Dr. Rachel Farrell, Head of the Project Implementation Team, to hear about the pilot implementation of the course. The working group comprised representatives from the Computers in Education Society of Ireland (CESI), the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Cyber Ireland, the National Cyber Security Centre.
The supporting UCD project implementation team from the School of Education developed the short course specification, arranged webinars and developed units of learning to support teachers, piloted the short course, developed the web-based resource www.cyberwise.ie and organised a shared learning day event in May 2022 with schools, teachers and pupils.
The pilot is being extended by a further two years to refine the course materials, obtain comprehensive feedback from a larger pool of participating schools and explore how to sustain this initiative beyond the end of the current National Cyber Security Strategy in 2024.
Commenting on receipt of the report, Minister Smyth stated:
"This short course is a fantastic opportunity for young people to learn about cyber security, particularly how to better protect their data, devices and ultimately themselves from malicious cyber activities. The short course also facilities early pathways towards STEM-based career options, helping us to address the cyber security skills gap as we evolve towards a digital economy and society. I look forward to further updates on the implementation of this pilot."
ENDS
This course commenced in September 2021 and involved the following schools:
The bespoke website www.cyberwise.ie provides free student-centred resources, and also serves as a digital hub for teachers and an interactive online forum.
The interim report ‘Developing a Junior Cycle Short Course in Cyber Security’ outlines the background to the development of the working group and the implementation team, resourcing to date, details of the short course development and associated activities, information about participating schools, the development of web-based resource materials and the key recommendations.
The current National Cyber Security Strategy was published in December 2019 and is available on the NCSC website.
Measure 12 outlines that the ‘government will continue to ensure that second and third level training in computer science and cyber security id developed and deployed' and commits to supporting the development of a Junior Cycle short course in cyber security.