Mr. Martin Shiel:

DEIS, Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, is the Department of Education and Skill's main policy intervention to address educational disadvantage. DEIS Plan 2017, published earlier this year, represents a renewal of the DEIS programme and sets out a vision for future intervention in the area of social inclusion in educational policy. DEIS focuses on addressing and prioritising the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities, from pre-school through second level education, three to 18 years, through the school support programme, which includes a suite of interventions, comprising in school and out of school supports.

The HSCL scheme is a key support for DEIS urban primary and post-primary schools, which operates as part of the integrated educational welfare service of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. Tusla, which is the dedicated State agency responsible for improving well-being and outcomes for children, has responsibility for the management of the HSCL scheme, together with the school completion programme and the statutory educational welfare service. Tusla's educational welfare service works collaboratively with our Department and schools to ensure that children’s participation in the education system is maximised. The HSCL scheme is in existence since 1990. The underlying vision and thrust of the HSCL scheme is preventative; therefore, it seeks to promote and develop real partnership between parents, schools and communities, in order to enhance pupils' outcomes and learning opportunities, through improved attendance, participation and retention in the education system.

The role of the HSCL co-ordinator is to work primarily with the salient adults in the child's life, in order to empower them, so that they can better support their children to attend school, participate in education and develop positive attitudes to life-long learning. Central to the HSCL initiative is the identification of educational needs and the provision of a tailored and proportionate response to those needs, through a range of interventions, which are evidence-based, focused and structured.

All DEIS urban primary and DEIS post-primary schools are included in the HSCL scheme, which serves 539 schools. The scheme is delivered by 416 full-time HSCL co-ordinators, with 235 at primary and 181 at post-primary level, who are teachers in these schools and assigned to HSCL duties either in individual schools or clusters of schools, catering for approximately 156,000 pupils. The current cost of this provision to our Department is €25 million. For DEIS schools included in the HSCL scheme, it is a requirement that at least 10% of the annual DEIS grant to each school should be allocated for use on HSCL activities and made available to the HSCL co-ordinator. The total allocation for the DEIS grant from our Department is approximately €16 million.

The post of HSCL co-ordinator is required to be rotated at least every five years in order to provide greater opportunities to gain experience for teachers in the area of educational disadvantage, and, in turn, to bring experience gained in the role back into the school to complement teaching and learning in the classroom.

This arrangement serves to develop experience and build capacity within the teaching staff in the important area of parental engagement and identification of the challenges in the home background of particular pupils. HSCL co-ordinators, as agents of change in schools, work in an integrated way with all other support services, particularly school completion, SCP, staff and educational welfare officers, to implement a whole-school approach to improving attendance, participation and retention in education for the most marginalised and educationally disadvantaged pupils. They also have a critical role in supporting the development, implementation, evaluation and review of the school’s DEIS plan, particularly through parental involvement interventions that are designed to improve literacy, numeracy and positive engagement.

HSCL co-ordinators also play a key role in effecting successful transitions through the education continuum: from preschool to primary school; from primary school to second level; within second level from junior to senior cycle; and onwards through appropriate pathways to further and higher education. The role of the HSCL coordinator is to empower parents to support their child’s education and to ensure parents are linked in with the various stages of the education continuum by facilitating engagement between teaching and other staff and parents.

I thank the members for the opportunity to address the committee today. My colleague, Mr. Kelly, and I are happy to answer any questions.