Results 841-860 of 19,559 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (29 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: In accordance with the Reopening Our Schools: The Roadmap for the Full Return to School that my Department published earlier this week, specific Induction Training will be made available to all school staff before schools reopen. This is a mandatory training requirement. The Induction Training will provide information to school staff on a range of issues relating to Covid-19 and the safe...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Examinations (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: The purpose of the calculated grades system is to arrive at the grade each student would have achieved if the leaving certificate examinations had taken place as normal. Students' expected performance in a subject and level is combined with information about how students in a school have fared in the subject in recent years in line with national performance standards over time and with their...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Examinations (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. I must reiterate that all possible checks and balances have been put in place to ensure that the calculated grades model is a fair and equitable system. The 2020 leaving certificate will have the same high quality and integrity as the 2019 leaving certificate and indeed that of 2021 and other future years. While these data sets include certain demographic information,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Examinations (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: To clarify, the demographic information is not being used to generate the calculated grades through the standardisation process. My Department has published a short guide to data collection, national standardisation and quality assurance which provides further details about the workings of the calculated grades model. This is available and has been published online.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Accommodation (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware, yesterday I announced the roadmap for the full return to school, along with more than €370 million in funding to support primary and post-primary schools as they prepare for reopening. It is recognised that in preparing for full reopening schools may require some reconfiguration works to ensure that all available space, including class space, is used to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Accommodation (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: Again, I confirm that substantial resources are going into schools to facilitate schools doing what needs to be done on the ground. I include in that, as we have already outlined, the €75 million that has been made available through the minor works grant. That funding is significant and substantial. In the first instance, it is a doubling of the minor works grant funding to primary...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Accommodation (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: On that point, prior to 2016, teachers were allocated to primary schools at a general average of one teacher for every 28 pupils, but budget 2016 improved that ratio by one point to 27:1. Budget 2018 provided for a further point improvement to the staffing schedule so that teachers are allocated on a general average of one teacher for every 26 pupils, with effect since September 2018. This...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Funding (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware, on Monday the Government published Roadmap for the Full Return to School, along with details of a financial package of over €375 million to support the implementation of the measures in the roadmap, following approval by the Government. The range of supports being made available to schools includes additional financial supports to provide for additional...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Funding (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy for raising that important point. I appreciate the pressures on schools and parents. Every effort is being made to ensure substantial funding is put in place to ensure no additional burden is placed on the school or on parents. There is a budget of €53 million for cleaning and all that involves, which is a substantial package of funding. We have also put in place...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Funding (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: I would not accept that assertion at all. The roadmap is inclusive of all schools whether urban or rural. I come from a constituency that marries both so I am greatly conscious that the packages are made available on an urban and rural basis. A key innovation, perhaps more to the benefit of rural schools is the additional one day which will be given to teaching principals which is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. In the 2019-2020 school year more than 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million km at a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: To reiterate, in line with normal practice, all children who are eligible for school transport and who complete the application and payment process on time will be accommodated in school transport services where such services are in operation. The plans that are in place for school transport are absolutely based on the public health advice available. It has recommended that children are...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: To a very clear question, I give a very clear answer, that which I have already given the Deputy. All children who are eligible for school transport and who complete the application and payment process on time will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation. Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who complete the application and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: That is a clear answer.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizens' Assembly (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: 11 o’clock I am particularly pleased to see the inclusion of a Citizens’ Assembly on the future of education in the programme for Government. Experience internationally and here at home of citizens' assemblies as exercises in deliberative democracy have been extremely positive. Ireland is considered a leader in the use of deliberative democracy processes, having convened...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizens' Assembly (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: I come from a strong education background and I believe strongly in educational equality and inclusiveness. I am a fan of the Citizens' Assembly and I will be hugely supportive of a citizens' assembly on the future of education because I believe in the democracy that it will represent. The terms of reference for the education Citizens' Assembly will be set out in the Oireachtas resolution...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizens' Assembly (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: I appreciate the genuine enthusiasm the Deputy has for the Citizens' Assembly. I share that enthusiasm because of the Citizens' Assembly's democratic and inclusive nature. At this point, four weeks into the job, I intend to formulate a three-year strategy and annual implementation plan which will incorporate priority actions from the programme for Government. This will include at its...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Staff (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: My Department is working with education partners on measures to address anticipated teacher supply pressures arising from additional posts in the system and to meet the demand for teachers to fill short-term substitutable vacancies. I reiterate that the additional posts coming into the system are very positive news for the education sector. The Covid-19 environment is impacting on the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Staff (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: I believe the additional posts that have been announced will be a substantial benefit to the post-primary sector. We are very confident of the various pools that are available from which to draw those additional teachers, including the 1,300 who are currently job-sharing. For the first time, we will lift the bar on the number of hours teachers can work in terms of job-sharing. For the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Staff (30 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputies. Regarding the induction of new teachers, Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan will be aware that the training facility is for the whole school community, including teachers who are already working in a school environment and new teachers who will come on stream. I am conscious that, under normal circumstances, new teachers coming on stream must be particularly nurtured. The...