Results 7,101-7,120 of 19,598 for speaker:Norma Foley

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: As I outlined, I have engaged with all the stakeholders, including parents, students, teachers and school management bodies. I have listened to the proposals they put on the table and evaluated each one of them. They were primarily around making additional changes to the written papers - the exams as we know them - and I answered that. Substantial additional changes have been made to the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: What has been set out today is that there will be additional choice which means there is greater time and less content required to be studied to take these exams in June. We are not just talking about the written exams but also the orals and practical exams. There have been accommodations along the line there. That was a chief consideration for the students and one they raised consistently...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Accommodation (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that a project for the schools to which he refers has recently been approved. The single project will provide for the construction of a 41-classroom primary school for Trinity National School as well as the development of an eight-classroom primary school for Tuam Educate Together National School on the same site. Special education needs classes are also...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Accommodation (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. I agree with him this is a very significant and positive development and an ambitious project for the town and rightly so. The single project will provide, as I have said, for the construction of a 41-classroom primary school for Trinity national school as well as the development of an eight-classroom primary school for Tuam Educate Together national school together on...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Accommodation (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge the commendation of the patrons. There has been a very strong collaborative and co-operative approach taken here and that is very important. In all sectors of society and most notably in the education sector, we can achieve great things when we enter into the spirit of collaboration and co-operation. This is is an excellent example of patrons coming...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy for raising the question. The school transport scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the current school year more than 121,400 children, including more than 15,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy for the points he raised. On some of them, for example the 70 years of age rule, that is something that is across the public sector and not unique to this operation here. In many of the issues he raises, this requires a wide and all-encompassing review of the system to ensure it is serving the students and their families. This year we introduced the eligibility for...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I appreciate the points raised by the Deputy because I appreciate the importance of the school transport system, especially in rural constituencies such as ours. I was, therefore, very clear that there needed to be a review of the system as it currently stands. I ensured that the review began, which it did in a timely fashion, and that interim recommendations were made to me. I have...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: Yes, there is an openness for submissions.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I am very aware of the disruption experienced by students who are due to take their junior cycle examinations this year. The State Examinations Commission, SEC, with my Department, has been progressing planning for these examinations in consultation with, as I have previously outlined, the advisory group on planning for the State examinations, which has met on a number of occasions to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I will be clear that 2022 is the first year that all the new subject specifications for junior cycle will be assessed by the SEC. Those specifications provide for a very flexible and wide-realm approach in respect of questions and options being made available to students. A number of significant adjustments have been made. I know from my own experience that the requirement that a number of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: It is important to reiterate that there have been changes, amendments and alterations to the paper. The papers have been tailored to meet the needs of the class of 2022. I will again specifically reference, as somebody who has worked in the area, that it is a considerable benefit that the number of CBAs has been reduced by 50%. To address the time issue raised by the Deputy, I know it is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: As already outlined to the House, in recent weeks I attended a meeting with the advisory group on State examinations, which is representative of students, parents, teachers, managerial bodies, the further and higher education sector and the State Examinations Commission. Following on from this meeting, I met with the members of the advisory group on a one-to one or bilateral basis and also...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I reiterate that we are all very conscious of the difficulties of the past two years for the education sector and for wider society, but most specifically in this instance for our students. As I have previously outlined to the House, I have engaged with students, parents, teachers and school management bodies. The were four key points consistently raised by students, including the necessity...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputies. On Deputy Murnane O'Connor's specific question with regard to the accommodation for students who have a significant illness, a bereavement or are impacted by Covid, it may have escaped the Deputy but I did announce some time ago that there is a contingency second sitting of the examination, which will take place immediately after the first sitting of the examination....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Accommodation (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will no doubt be aware, there has been significant growth in post-primary student numbers in the Swords area in recent years. Across the Swords school planning area, total post-primary enrolments have increased by over 800 pupils since 2011. Enrolments at Fingal Community College have grown by over 300 in that same timeframe and additional accommodation was provided at the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Accommodation (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I appreciate the case that the Deputy makes. I recognise the necessity for the area. The key issue is that the school site is extremely constrained, as the Deputy identified. That is presenting considerable challenges in delivering the required volume of accommodation necessary for the school. It is a tribute to the school that it is growing. The Department is heavily committed to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Accommodation (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputies. I appreciate their points and the acknowledgement there is an absolute commitment on the part of the Department to the advancement of the school Deputy Farrell mentioned. On the point raised by Deputy Crowe, I can confirm the school to which he referred has been approved for a project under the Department's additional accommodation scheme. The project will provide...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disadvantaged Status (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I appreciate the case the Deputy has made. There are similar cases throughout the country. As I said earlier, budget 2022 has provided for an allocation of €18 million for 2022 and €32 million for 2023 to extend the DEIS programme to further schools with the highest levels of disadvantage. As the Deputy has acknowledged, this package represents an increase of over 20% on the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disadvantaged Status (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. I want to be clear that the progression, enhancement and expansion of the DEIS model to as many schools as possible has been a chief objective of my Ministry. It is a significant undertaking by the Department of Education to have secured €18 million for 2022 and €32 million for 2023 to advance that objective clearly for the types of schools the Deputy has...