We’ve had the commitment. Next we need the detail, and then the finances to make it all come to fruition.
There would, of course, have been little point in bringing together an expert panel to make recommendations on how to shape the future of the education system, and then not listening to what it had to say (but that hasn’t stopped the Assembly in the past).
The most far-reaching assessment of education ever undertaken here reported back with 25 recommendations last December following two years of painstaking consultations with all the key stakeholders.
It was delivered to Stormont — where no one was in residence to receive it due to the DUP’s boycott of the institutions.
And, like so many other reports, it could easily have been left on an overloaded shelf to gather dust.
However, an official response to the report has now arrived from Education Minister Paul Givan, and that is to be welcomed.
Here, at last, is the first major sign the education of our young people — a topic with multiple viewpoints on what is best practice — is being taken as seriously as it needs to be.
To start with, the minister is proposing a change to the law which will see all young people required to stay in education or training until they are at least 18.
In reality, the change will not affect the vast majority who already move on to A-levels, further education or apprenticeships.
But a closing of the net will give a renewed direction to those who are currently leaving school at 16 and find they have nowhere else to go.
When beginning the Independent Review of Education, panel lead Dr Keir Bloomer said his team of experts would “not shirk the big decisions”.
Making their recommendations was the easy task. Ensuring they are delivered will be more problematic.
Qualifications and assessments are to be considered in due course, and one of the main questions will surround the transfer test between primary and post-primary education.
It is important to remember that this first step is not about making children stay in school until they are 18.
Far from it. It is about maximising opportunities and giving young people the best chance to succeed.
The longer they are in education or training, the more chance they have of getting themselves a career in their chosen field. That can’t be a bad thing.