Dáil debates

Tuesday, 21 October 2008

Adjournment Debate

School Staffing.

9:00 pm

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I am grateful to the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this important matter. St. Mark's junior and senior national schools have more than 1,000 pupils in their care in an area not designated disadvantaged. The area concerned is a modest private housing estate of approximately 2,000 houses, a very high proportion of which are privately rented. A large number of these privately rented houses are leased to immigrant families whose children comprise 48% of the junior school. The junior school, for example, has 258 children for whom English is not their first language. Recently the junior school got sanction for six language support teachers, four of whom will not be re-employed under the Minister for Finance's budget announcement.

Some 258 newcomer children in a school with an enrolment of 536 has placed a huge responsibility on the school, a challenge which the teachers have taken up with very considerable success and evolved best practice with little help in the matter of guidelines from the Department. It seems to be unpopular with some outside commentators to highlight that if a school is inadequately resourced to cope with the language difficulties of newcomer pupils this will have a seriously adverse impact on indigenous pupils. Only a year and a half ago St. Mark's junior school won six language support teachers, or one teacher per 43 pupils with a variety of language needs. The Minister proposes to cap such resource teachers at two.

To compound the damage the same school now stands to lose €25,333.93 in grants, money that was used to provide books for necessitous pupils, psychological assessments and so on. This small grant was of immense value. How in the name of heavens does the Minister of State consider that a school like this can cope with this huge proportion of non-national children and at the same time tend to the needs of its indigenous pupils? Before the very recent arrival of the language support teachers and notwithstanding the diligent efforts of the established teachers, numeracy and literacy levels over ten years suffered badly. Despite the scale and novelty of the challenge nobody from the Minister's Department visited the school in over ten years to experience the challenge.

Now as the two schools on the St. Mark's campus are about to get on top of the challenge, the Government proposes to undermine them. Notwithstanding that the St. Mark's schools are not in an area designated disadvantaged, the proportion accessing third level is improving but is still not large enough. There are many young people who do not get to third level and some who do not finish second level. For the Government to attack primary school children as it has done in the budget is indefensible and I ask the Minister to withdraw the reimposition of the ceiling for language support teachers.

I conclude by referring to the statement issued by the teachers. It states:

We are beside ourselves with rage and genuine upset at the body blow that has been dealt to the primary sector by this budget. Everything we have worked for in these schools — and we know we speak for hundreds of principals — is now at risk. We did not get adequate resourcing in the good times and now we will be even further disadvantaged. Does anyone seriously imagine that we can manage with fewer than six language teachers? Even with six, each teacher has an allocation of more than 40 pupils, with a variety of language needs, coming from 37 countries and with a variety of cultural diversity.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue as it affords me the opportunity to outline the position with regard to language support teachers and the position at the school in question.

Notwithstanding the increase of €302 million in the education budget for 2009, which is a real achievement in the current economic climate, a number of tough and difficult decisions had to be taken. These decisions included reducing the level of language support teachers from a maximum of six extra teachers per school to a maximum of two teachers per school, as was the case before 2007.

At a general level, the ongoing requirement for current levels of language support teachers in schools should also start to reduce in line with lower levels of immigration and in line with improvements in the levels of proficiency of those pupils for whom this resource has been available. Nonetheless, schools that require language support will still be entitled to get it. The budget measures will mean that the level of that support will be reduced from a maximum of six extra teachers per school to a maximum of two teachers per school, as was the case before 2007.

However, the budget measures also provide for some alleviation for the position of those schools where there is a significant concentration of newcomer pupils as a proportion of the overall enrolment. This will be done on a case by case basis. The allocation process for language support teachers is an annual one and existing provision is not rolled over automatically. Schools will be applying afresh in the spring and early summer of 2009 for the 2009 and 2010 school year, based on their assessment of the prospective needs of existing pupils and any new pupils they are enrolling. The position of the school in question will fall to be considered at that stage along with all other schools making application to the Department.

A number of measures had to be taken in the education sector to help contain public sector pay while providing for demographic and other changes. At primary level, these included an increase in the enrolment bands of the staffing schedule for the allocation of teachers in primary schools from an average of one teacher for 27 pupils to an average of one teacher for 28 pupils. As the processing of the September 2008 enrolment returns for primary schools are not yet finalised by the Department of Education and Science, it is not possible to outline to the House this evening the impact these changes will have on the allocation of mainstream teaching posts for the 2009 and 2010 school year for the school in question. The staffing schedule for the 2009 and 2010 school year will issue to all schools as soon as possible and at that time a more accurate indication of the mainstream staffing levels will be available.

The Department is aware of the funding pressures on schools. However, progress has been made in recent years that has seen the primary school capitation grant increased from €81.26 per pupil in 2000 to its current rate of €200. This represents an increase of 146% in the standard rate of capitation grant since 2000. The primary capitation grant has been improved by more than €21 to bring the rate to €200 per pupil. The ancillary services grant for primary schools will also be improved by €3.50 to €155 per pupil.

Taken together, these increases mean that primary schools eligible for the full ancillary services grant will get €355 per pupil, or almost €25 extra, in this school year to cover their day to day running costs, with a primary school of 300 pupils getting €7,475 more. In 2000, a primary school with 300 pupils was in receipt of less than €40,000 to meet its day to day running costs. That same school under these new rates will receive €106,500. This excludes the salary of teachers and special needs assistants which are paid by the Department.

Furthermore enhanced rates of capitation funding are paid in respect of children with special educational needs who attend special schools or special classes attached to mainstream schools. The current rates range from €512 to €986 per pupil, an increase of 59% from the rate in 2006. The Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, appreciates that the abolition of a number of grants for some schools will impact on funding levels in 2009 but it is also the case that enhanced levels of funding announced in the budget for the capitation and ancillary services grants will help to alleviate the impact of this.

The Deputy has been provided with a script detailing the facts pertinent to the school in question. I thank the Deputy for providing me with the opportunity to address the House on this matter and to outline the current position.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.10 p.m. until 10.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 22 October 2008.