Plans for teachers to mark their own students senior cycle assessments as part of new reforms have been suspended.
A study into the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the education system is to be carried out by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) first, which means assessments will be marked externally.
Education Minister Norma Foley told Newstalk Breakfast we need to assess what AI means.
"I'm very cognizant of the fact that we're in a space now in relation to AI that I wasn't in when I first announced senior cycle reform," she said.
"We know that there is quite considerable concern around AI and the impact it would have.
"I'm very keen to realise that in the first instance there can be enormous potential for education in terms of AI.
"I think we should harness that potencial, but equally so we should armour ourselves against the challenge that AI will present."
'Harness and embrace it'
Minister Foley said she hopes teachers 'ultimately' can grade their own students again for 40% of their marks.
"Ultimately that will be the case, but it will be a case where it's informed," she said.
"I think it's remarkable that when we would have sat discussing this a year ago Chat GPT, AI was never part of our world really... it is now.
"For us not to embrace it and harness it and be aware [of] and trained in its challenges would be short-sighted in the world of education," she added.
New subjects
Two new subjects will also be part of the curriculum from 2025 - Drama, Film & Theatre Studies, and Climate Action & Sustainable Development.
Students will see the rollout of nine new and revised subjects from 2025, two years earlier than planned, including Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Business.
The changes will apply to the graduating class of 2026.
There will be a second group of revised subjects in 2026, with further tranches to be introduced annually after that.
