Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to outline the Government's approach to promoting greater social inclusion by prioritising investment in education in disadvantaged areas. The wide variety of measures in place at local level throughout the country for tackling educational disadvantage range from pre-school interventions, supports for tackling children's literacy problems, reduced pupil teacher ratios, increased capitation grants and measures to tackle early school leaving and strengthen ties between the school, the family and the community. In addition, there are interventions in support of youth and in providing second chance education for young people and adults.

Under the new action plan for educational inclusion launched by the Minister for Education and Science last May, further investment is being targeted at young people at risk to help them to make the most of the educational opportunities available to them. The DEIS, delivering equality of opportunity in schools, plan provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated school support programme which will bring together and build upon a number of existing interventions for schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage. Approximately 600 primary schools, comprising 300 urban-town and 300 rural and 150 second level schools will be included in the school support programme. The new action plan will be introduced on a phased basis, starting in the current school year, and will involve an additional annual investment of €40 million on full implementation. It will also involve the provision of some 300 additional posts across the education system.

A key underlying principle of DEIS is that of early intervention, including assisting children who are having difficulty learning to read and write at an early stage before the problem becomes entrenched. Key measures to be implemented on a phased basis over the next five years include targeted early childhood education provision for 150 urban-town school communities allowing increased access to literacy and numeracy support initiatives and extended availability of home-school-community liaison and school completion programme services. The 150 urban-town primary schools with the highest concentrations of disadvantage will be targeted to benefit from maximum class sizes of 20:1 in junior classes and 24:1 in senior classes. Rural primary schools participating in the new school support programme will be targeted to benefit from access to a teacher or co-ordinator serving a cluster of schools. Measures will be implemented to enhance student attendance, educational progression, retention and attainment. Measures will be put in place to support the recruitment and retention of principals and teaching staff in schools serving disadvantaged communities. Professional development for principals, teachers and other personnel in schools participating in the SSP will be enhanced.

The action plan will also focus on greater integration of services and improved co-operation and partnership working both within the education sector itself and between the Department of Education and Science and all other relevant Departments and agencies at both national and local level. Priorities will include seeking to expand and develop areas of mutual co-operation with other Departments and agencies on, for example, early childhood education and care, nutrition and health, and literacy and numeracy. The involvement of students, parents, local communities and agencies operating at local level will be an important dimension of the overall planning process for schools in the new school support programme.

Also central to the success of the action plan will be an increased emphasis on planning at school and school cluster level, target setting and measurement of progress and outcomes to ensure that the increased investment is matched by an improvement in educational outcomes for the children and young people concerned. I am confident that the extra supports being put in place will make a real difference to the lives of young people in disadvantaged areas.

With regard to the Preparing for Life proposal that the Deputy asked about, I have been informed by the Minister for Education and Science that her Department's regional office service met the education co-ordinator of the northside partnership on a number of occasions and has provided advice on the development of the proposal. I understand that the proposal is intended to address the needs of children at each stage of their development to better prepare them for school, and that it involves mentoring and group training for parents to improve their skills, esteem and aspirations for their children. The proposers intend that the project will result in improved physical and psychological health and better educational outcomes for children at key stages in their development to the point of reception in school. I understand that the proposal will shortly be presented formally to the Department and that at that stage, it will be assessed in terms of how it can fit in with the Department's overall programmes to address educational disadvantage.

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline just some of the work that is being done in the area of tackling educational disadvantage at present and our plans to extend this further.

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