Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the first instance, I will address the question on students from first year to third year. In the broader mix, and with the best will in the world, I would love to have all students back in one go, but that is not possible in the current circumstances living with Covid-19. The recommendation based on the expert advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team is that we would take what the deputy chief medical officer has called a cautious and phased approach to reopening our schools. For this reason, we are limited to the manner in which we have reopened the schools. We are hopeful that community transmission can be kept under control. I acknowledge that there is a burden of responsibility on all of us within the community to ensure we progress positively. If we continue to progress positively, we will see the successful reopening on the other dates, including 15 March and 12 April, respectively.

The Senator referenced the transition year programme. I acknowledge that reconfigured or new guidelines issued this year for the transition year programme and how it could operate in our schools. We will be cognisant of the need to look at specific programmes like that. We will be cognisant of the need for measures to make time for learning that has been lost. All of that will come in due course.

I was asked about DEIS supports and supports for children with particular challenges in that respect. I am conscious of that and of the importance of supporting children who experience disadvantage. A total of 887 schools are in the DEIS programme and they cater to more than 185,000 students. Committee members may be aware that we made an announcement on the 1-point reduction in class size in urban DEIS band 1 primary schools. Reference was made to the school completion programme. We have looked at introducing measures whereby we can now extend the school completion programme to include 14 urban primary and 14 post-primary DEIS schools. There is also a 5% increase in funding for school completion programmes.

From the point of view of educational disadvantage, we have introduced a measure to reduce enrolment in DEIS post-primary schools from 700 to 600. This would allow for qualification for an additional deputy principal within those schools.

Tied up with that is the reference made to well-being, which is highly important in the education sector. We have a strong well-being policy in the Department. In our most recent budget we made funding available for an additional 110 guidance counsellors and 17 additional National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologists. I confirm that NEPS is continuing to work on a parallel basis with schools. In addition to its online work, on-site visits have commenced as well. We are conscious that in the context of well-being at the start of the year a strong emphasis was placed on the return to school and how it would affect the well-being of students as they returned. That continues as students return. Throughout the entire school year, there is a strong focus on well-being from that point of view.