Results 8,821-8,840 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Educational Planning: Educational Planning (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Plan for Education Provision in East Meath/North Dublin/South Louth area is currently being revised in the School Planning Section of the Department to take into account the preliminary Census figures published recently. In relation to Laytown, Co. Meath, the Department acknowledged the need for a new primary school in this area and as a result Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa was established with...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 93, 444 and 461 together. The Deputy will be aware that the home tuition scheme provides funding to parents to provide education at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme was extended in recent years to facilitate tuition for children awaiting a suitable educational placement. I wish to...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Student practical work has been a major feature of science syllabi at both junior and senior cycle levels for many years and science teachers have long experience of conducting practical work with their students. Until 2006, practical work was assessed only through the medium of written papers in the Certificate examinations. The revised Junior Certificate Science syllabus which was examined...

Written Answers — Subject Evaluations: Subject Evaluations (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Planning for subject inspections in post-primary schools in 2007 is underway at present and will be finalised within a few weeks. It is expected that the number of subject inspections to be undertaken in 2007 will exceed the 660 planned for 2006.

Written Answers — Whole School Evaluations: Whole School Evaluations (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: In 2006 the Inspectorate planned to conduct a total of 285 whole-school evaluations (WSE) in primary and post-primary schools. This comprised 228 WSEs at primary level and 57 WSEs at post-primary level. A further 22 evaluations were conducted in other centres for education including Youth Encounter Project schools, Youthreach Centres and Senior Traveller Training Centres. By the end of 2006...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 98, 117 and 146 together. The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations, including organising the holding of examinations and issuing the results of examinations. In view of this, I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: A new Bill, the Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill is in the final stages of drafting with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel at present. The Bill will give effect to the Task Force recommendations and set out criteria to be taken into account in the section 29 appeal process. These will include consideration of the right of the individual student to an inclusive education as...

Written Answers — Teaching Profession: Teaching Profession (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Since the 1970s there has been a significant and continuous decline in the number of males entering the teaching profession, particularly at primary level. The Primary Education Committee was established in October, 2003 in order to examine a range of issues in relation to males entering primary teaching, and to make recommendations on short-term and long-term strategies to increase the...

Written Answers — Physical Education Facilities: Physical Education Facilities (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy can be assured that My Department fully recognises the key role of physical exercise within the school environment and continues to respond to the need to improve PE facilities for all pupils attending primary schools. My Department's planning guidelines for new schools include, where appropriate for PE Halls, general purpose rooms and outdoor hard play areas such as basketball...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: At the core of the recommendations of the Task Force on Student Behaviour was the establishment of a Behaviour Support Team. The purpose of this Team was envisaged as helping identify problems of student behaviour in second-level schools, leading to the development of strategies to resolve these problems and to facilitate the implementation of these strategies in practice. When launching the...

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Higher Education Authority is the statutory body which advises my Department on the full range of policy issues relating to higher education and research. On foot of various representations which I received regarding management at University College Cork, I asked the Higher Education Authority for a report on the issues raised. The Chief Executive and representatives of the HEA met the...

Written Answers — Whole School Evaluations: Whole School Evaluations (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: A teacher (or the board of a school) who disputes the process of an inspection or the content of an inspection report affecting the teacher or the school may request the Chief Inspector to conduct a review in accordance with procedures established under Section 13 (9) of the Education Act. Since the commencement of 2006 a review has been sought in relation to one whole-school evaluation...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: €506m was allocated to my School Building and Modernisation Programme for 2006. Over €440m has been expended to date, this amounts to 87% of the allocation. I anticipate that the budget will be fully spent by year end as was the case in 2005. As a result of a record investment in school infrastructure of over €2 billion from 2000 to 2005 over 6500 projects have been delivered in this...

Written Answers — School Meals Programme: School Meals Programme (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The majority of the 412 schools participating in the School Completion Programme in 2006 operate breakfast clubs or other meal provision, in accordance with the Nutritional Guidelines issued by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. In addition to the funding provided through the School Completion Programme, the provision of school meals is primarily funded by the School Meals...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 108, 137 and 138 together. The Deputies will be aware that the curriculum offered to students attending a post-primary school is a matter for the authorities of the schools concerned subject to meeting the Departments regulations concerning provision of the core curriculum. My Department publishes data on the number of schools offering each subject in its...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: This Government is determined to ensure that every child is educated in a suitable and comfortable environment. Since 1997, great advances have been made in transforming school accommodation throughout the country, through an investment of €3 billion. This has funded over 7,800 individual school projects in the last seven years alone. This year we are spending €500 million on school...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The applications from County Clare VEC referred to by the Deputy relate to notices of intent lodged by that VEC for consideration by the New Schools Advisory Committee (NSAC) under the NSAC process. I expect that NSAC will report on all the applications made to it in the normal time-frame and will make recommendations to me for consideration in the new year. The Department has received...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, there are now no less than 4,000 extra teachers in our primary schools, compared with 2002. Furthermore, there are nearly 7,000 more primary teachers than there were in 1997. This represents the largest increase in teacher numbers since the expansion of free education. The average class size in our primary schools is 24 and there is now one teacher for 17 pupils...

Written Answers — Educational Planning: Educational Planning (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: In relation to forward planning in areas of rapid growth, the process of assessing the need for new or additional educational facilities at primary or post-primary level in any given area entails consideration of all relevant factors, including enrolment and demographic trends, housing developments and the capacity of existing schools to meet the demand for places. Liaison with existing...

Written Answers — Educational Projects: Educational Projects (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 119 and 153 together. I am committed to the development of a Primary Pupil database as it will give us valuable data on the pupils in our primary schools as well as enabling us to better track children's progress from primary to post-primary level. The database project is linked to the development of an on-line claims system for schools for the processing of...