CO CORK, Ireland - Ireland's Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh on Friday toured the recently expanded Apple campus in Cork to see the Apple school engagement programme which sees schools receive lessons in coding, photography, art and music in action.

McHugh was joined on the visit by Cathy Kearney, VP European Operations.

The event coincided with a transition year visit by 100 students from Ballincollig Community School and Gaelcholiste Mhuire A.G schools in Cork who were at the campus to learn about Apple's operations in Ireland and enjoy Everyone Can Create and Everyone Can Code taster sessions. The sessions are designed to help students of all ages to learn the basics of coding and problem-solving.

To date, almost 1,000 students from local schools have taken part in transition year visits to learn about Apple's operations in Ireland.

The Minister also visited the nearby Terence MacSwiney Community College where since 2016, more than 40 Apple employees have volunteered to support the coding curriculum. McHugh met with Principal Phil O'Flynn to discuss the impact that the once-a-week classes have had on the students who are using Apple's Everyone Can Create tools to create art, music, video and photography.

Minister McHugh said:

"It is a pleasure to be in Cork today to see at first hand the work that Apple are doing with schools in the community. It is important for students to learn about digital technology to prepare them for the future world of work."

"The work of Apple with schools here in Cork supplements the work of our Digital Strategy for Schools in embedding digital technologies in teaching, learning and assessment in schools."

Apple has been operating in Ireland since 1980. The company employs around 6,000 people across the country.

Today more than 5,000 schools, community colleges and technical colleges worldwide are using the Everyone Can Code curriculum. Everyone Can Create builds on the success of the Everyone Can Code curriculum, and teaches students to develop and communicate ideas through drawing, music, video and photos on iPad.