Dáil debates
Wednesday, 17 October 2018
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
DEIS Status
1:25 pm
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I placed this matter on the agenda for debate because it is an important issue for schools in my and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's county of Donegal and one with which the Minister for Education and Skills is familiar. It was the first opportunity for the Minister, Deputy McHugh, to address the house in his ministerial capacity, and I must say that I am disappointed that he has not shown up. I am more disappointed for the schools that we will reference in this debate that he has not shown up for them.
There are many challenges in the education sector in Donegal, for example, the three school campus projects and the schools building projects for Gaelscoil na gCeithre Máistrí in Donegal town and St. Mary's in Stranorlar, to name but a few. There are many other challenges in terms of the pay and conditions of the staff who work within our school environments.
However, today I want to revisit an issue the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and I have jointly addressed in the House numerous times, namely, the issue of DEIS schools and the failure to afford DEIS status to a number of schools in Donegal. Last year, we raised the issue of four schools in particular, Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair, of which I was a pupil many years ago, Scoil Náisiúnta Ghort an Choirce, Scoil Náisiúnta Rann na Feirste, and Scoil Náisiúnta Mhín Tine Dé. Despite the fact that an additional 79 schools were added to the DEIS scheme last year, these four schools were not part of the complement awarded DEIS status.
I will address with the Minister of State the issue of some of those schools. It is of note that all the national schools in the parish of Gaoth Dobhair have DEIS status. When children advance to second level in Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair, however, they lose the advantage of attending a school with DEIS status. The reason that is the case is due to the educational attainment of the students as a result of the professionalism of the staff in that school who have supported students to achieve their best. They are being punished because of their success in that respect. Notwithstanding that, the pupils who enter that school every morning at a few minutes past nine come from a disadvantaged area. The 2016 census indicates the area is now more disadvantaged that it was in 2011.
Gort an Choirce national school has not secured disadvantaged status, despite the fact that the secondary school in the area, Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola, has disadvantaged status. The area of Gort an Choirce is disadvantaged. The index score from the 2016 census shows that levels of disadvantage in the area increased dramatically between 2011 and 2016. The school in Rann na Feirste is in a similar position, as is the school in Mín Tine Dé.
When we raised this issue last year - I raised it again earlier this year - we were told by the Minister that a review of all schools would be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2018. We were also told it would take account of the updated census data, which I have just cited showing that the areas in which these schools are located have become more disadvantaged than they were previously. Account was to be taken of the new data and we were told a decision would be made as soon as possible.
Children have been back in school since September and their schools still do not have the supports that should be in place for children attending schools in disadvantaged areas. Such supports include additional resources, school meals programmes and additional teaching capacity to make sure that all the challenges the children face are addressed in a meaningful way.
If the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Joe McHugh, had shown the decency to turn up in the Chamber, I would have taken the opportunity to congratulate him, his family and our county on his elevation to the position of Minister. However, that also involves turning up and delivering. I have a question for the new Minister. When will these four schools be awarded DEIS status? It is blindingly obvious that they are entitled to and should be awarded DEIS status and ridiculous we have had to wait this long. Children are not meeting their full potential because of the degree of red tape within the Department of Education of Skills.
1:35 pm
Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh. I am delighted he has been appointed to that office. I take this opportunity in Dáil Éireann to wish him the very best.
I was a school principal for 31 years and I understand what Deputy Pearse Doherty is saying. I have taught thousands of children and in my ministerial role I always put the child at the epicentre of any agenda I have. Therefore, I hear what he is saying.
As the Deputy will be aware, Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools is the main policy initiative of the Government to address educational disadvantage at school level. The DEIS plan 2017 sets out the vision for future interventions in the critical area of educational disadvantage policy and builds on what has already been achieved by schools which have benefited from the additional supports available under the initial DEIS programme introduced in 2005. The DEIS plan 2017 is based on the findings of an extensive review of the DEIS programme, which involved consultations with all relevant stakeholders.
There are two key elements to the 2017 pIan. The first is the development of a new identification process for the assessment of schools in terms of the socio-economic background of their pupil cohort using centrally held data, including the Department of Education and Skills primary and post-primary online databases and the Central Statistics Office, CSO, small area of population statistics from the national census of population 2011, as represented by the Pobal HP deprivation index. The second is the updating of the DEIS school programme, which represents the overall package of supports available to schools participating in the programme to improve educational outcomes for pupils at greatest risk of not reaching their full potential by virtue of their socio-economic circumstances.
As of September 2017 following the application of the new identification process, 79 additional schools were designated as DEIS and 30 urban post-primary schools were upgraded from DEIS band 2 to DEIS band 1. These were schools that were identified as having the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage.
The DEIS plan 2017 states that the improved data on the socio-demographic of schools resulting from the new identification model will have an impact not only on the assessment of schools for inclusion in the programme, but also on the scaling of resources to allow for more graduated levels of support. This is turn allows for the ultimate objective of allocating resources to best meet the identified need of individual schools.
Work is continuing on the implementation of the various actions under the DEIS plan 2017, with a focus on targeting extra resources as closely as possible at those students with the greatest level of need. Work has also commenced on identifying such interventions that are having the greatest impact on tackling educational disadvantage. This will involve testing new approaches in groups of schools and working closely with schools in school self-evaluation and planning improvements.
We need to ensure the current identification model is as accurate as possible and this requires the use of Eircode to ensure correct inputting of addresses. Further analysis is also required to examine other variables known to be strong predictors of educational disadvantage in the context of resource allocation. To ensure the quality of the address data and conduct further analysis, the Department has decided to conduct additional quality assurance on the model before extending these envisaged uses of the model. It is not intended to extend the DEIS programme to any further schools until this work is complete.
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
This is new information, which the House has not been given previously. We were told something very different, namely, that there would be an update of all schools using the 2016 census data. The Department is still using the 2011 census data, which is already seven years out of date. As I said, all of these areas have become more disadvantaged, according to the HP deprivation index. The schools, which are in disadvantaged areas, should have been awarded DEIS status in the first instance. They have since become more disadvantaged. It appears the Department has been reviewing the programme it is running to categorise whether a school should be in the scheme or not for the past year. In the meantime, students and teachers have to wait and potential outcomes will not be reached. The Minister of State is shaking her head.
We were told last year that an update of the associated HP index was recently published and that the timeline for the process of assessment to be completed was the end of the first quarter of 2018. We are now in the third quarter and about to enter the fourth quarter of 2018 and the process is still not complete. Now the Minister of State, on behalf of the new Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Joe McHugh, is telling me and telling the students of Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair, Scoil Náisiúnta Ghort an Choirce, Scoil Náisiúnta Rann na Feirste and Scoil Náisiúnta Mhín Tine Dé, as well as the other schools that should be afforded DEIS status, that it is not intended to extend the scheme to any further schools until quality assurance work on the model is complete. When did this start? Last year we were told that work would be done on this and a full year has passed. When will these students get certainty? When will the Department recognise that their areas have fallen into more disadvantage and therefore their schools, and through their schools the students themselves, need to be supported in the way that many other hundreds of schools have been supported through the DEIS programme. That is the key question that parents, pupils and teachers are asking. The Minister of State has a background as an educator and will understand that the teachers concerned at both primary and secondary level are tearing their hair out because they recognise where their pupils are coming from, understand they are from disadvantaged areas and cannot understand the red tape exercise that has been going on in the Department for over a year that is preventing them and their pupils from getting what they should have been given in the first place.
1:45 pm
Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I thank the Deputy and hear him clearly but I point out that the 2019 budget saw the largest Vote ever for education of €10.8 billion. To be fair, we must target our resources and that is what we are doing. We have to make sure that the children in most need get the resources they require. As I said earlier, the underlying principle for inclusion in the DEIS school programme is evidenced by the need to make provision of key supports to schools catering for very concentrated levels of disadvantaged pupils. Schools which were not included in the DEIS programme in 2017 are those which were not identified as having the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage among their pupil cohort.
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
That is not true.
Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
DEIS plan 2017-----
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
It was the educational attainment of the pupils that ruled them out.
Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
Please allow the Minister without interruption.
Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
DEIS plan 2017 provides that if we are to have the maximum possible impact on providing opportunities for students most at risk of disadvantage, then our extra resources must be targeted as closely as possible at those students with the greatest level of need. It also provides for the development of a resource allocation model which aims to move away from the quite rigid and inflexible system for the identification of schools and resource allocation that has operated previously. In future, the intention is that the range and level of supports provided to schools will better match the identified educational need within their pupil cohorts. As someone with 31 years experience in education, I believe this is the right approach.