Results 1,281-1,300 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I have not met with representatives of groups concerned with sexual violence in my capacity as Minister for Education and Science. As regards dealing with the issue within education, a national curriculum in social, personal and health education, SPHE, incorporating relationships and sexuality education, has been developed at junior cycle level and this has been made mandatory for all schools...

Written Answers — Educational Disadvantage: Educational Disadvantage (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: An overall review of educational disadvantage programmes is currently being finalised by my Department. The purpose of this review is to build on what has been achieved to date, adopt a more systematic, targeted and integrated approach and strengthen the capacity of the system to meet the educational needs of disadvantaged children and young people. Arising from the review process a draft...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Arising from the census of special needs provision undertaken by my Department towards the end of 2003, there were 571 pupils with autistic spectrum disorder, ASD, attending mainstream primary schools. In general, this pupil cohort would be eligible for five hours resource teaching support. The census was undertaken in 2003 to ensure that up to date information on children with special...

Written Answers — Residential Institutions Redress Scheme: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Residential Institutions Redress Board was established under statute in 2002 to provide a mechanism for people who were victims of childhood abuse while in residential institutional care to obtain financial compensation for their injuries as an alternative to having to pursue their cases through the courts. The Government's decision to establish the redress scheme was made regardless of...

Written Answers — School Absenteeism: School Absenteeism (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Education (Welfare) Act 2000 established the National Educational Welfare Board as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance. The Act provides a comprehensive framework for promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving. The general functions of the board are to ensure that each child attends a recognised...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: At primary level, physical education is one of the seven curriculum areas within the primary school curriculum which was revised in 1999. A minimum of one hour of physical education per week is recommended for all primary school pupils. At second level, while physical education is not a mandatory subject, it should form part of the curriculum. The programme that each school plans and delivers...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: In light of the reality that pupils in the high incidence disability categories of mild and borderline mild general learning disability and dyslexia are distributed throughout the education system, my Department, in consultation with educational interests, developed a general model of resource teacher allocation to schools to support students in these disability categories. This model, which...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Significant improvements have been made in the pupil-teacher ratio at post-primary level in recent years. The ratio has fallen from 16:1 in the 1996-97 school year to 13.6:1 in the 2003-04 school year. In line with Government policy, my Department will continue to provide further reductions in the pupil-teacher ratio within available resources and subject to spending priorities within the...

Written Answers — Early Childhood Education: Early Childhood Education (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Early education in Ireland covers the period from birth to six years. Almost all five year olds and half of four year olds attend junior infant and senior infant classes in primary schools. Provision for children below the age of four years is targeted at specific groups. Outside of junior classes in primary schools, my Department's main role in the area of early childhood education...

Written Answers — Bullying in Schools: Bullying in Schools (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department has in place a multi-faceted strategy to tackle the issue of bullying, including homophobic bullying, which I regard as a very serious issue. A central part of the social, personal and health education, SPHE, curriculum is the education of students in anti-bullying behaviour. SPHE is now a compulsory subject both at primary level and in the junior cycle of post-primary schools....

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is fully committed to strengthening the quality of science teaching and learning, promoting increased scientific literacy and encouraging more students to choose science subjects at senior cycle and progress to third level options in this critical area as a vitally important part of the national strategy to support competitiveness and employment. This work continues to be...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The primary sector has experienced a shortage of trained teachers in recent years, mainly as a result of the large number of posts created to reduce class sizes, cater for pupils in disadvantaged areas and provide for those with special educational needs. The difficulties being experienced were aggravated by the number of teachers availing of career breaks and job sharing schemes. It is...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am aware of the recent media report mentioned by the Deputy that indicated an over-supply of science teachers. I am sure the Deputy is aware that the teacher supply and demand issue at second level is very complex. Analyses undertaken by my Department in the past indicated that there are regional and subject variations. A further complicating factor is that vacancies in second level schools...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am very conscious that schools across the country have to deal with a heavy administrative burden arising from necessary departmental and legislative requirements. I have indicated recently to a number of parties my intention to conduct a review of this administrative burden as soon as possible. I am happy to report that my Department will shortly write to the relevant stakeholders inviting...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I assume the Deputy refers to the number of places approved annually for post leaving certificate courses. In the 2004-05 academic year, approximately 28,500 places were approved. The approval process for PLC places for the academic year 2005-06 will take account of enrolment trends, applications from VECs, schools and colleges for course approval and the totality of demands for courses and...

Written Answers — Medical Education: Medical Education (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Higher Education Authority introduced a quota of Irish and non-Irish entrants to first year medical programmes, with effect from the 1980-81 academic year. The agreed figures were 305 Irish and 28 non-Irish. Following a Government decision in 1987, it was agreed that the intake of foreign students — non-nationals of EU member states — in the university medical schools should be...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The number of children availing of school transport services in a school year varies from time to time. Accordingly, the figures below are averages of pupils availing of the service within the years mentioned. Between 8,000 and 9,000 children with special needs currently avail of the transport service and these are included in the overall figures. In 1999, the figure was 145,000 and in 2004...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The general process of assessing and planning for the need for additional provision at primary or post-primary level in any given area entails consideration of all relevant factors, including enrolment and demographic trends, housing and other developments and the capacity of existing schools to meet the demand for places. My Department is included among the prescribed authorities to whom...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Applications for capital funding for schools are assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria, which was revised following consultation with the education partners. I recently announced the first phases of the 2005 school building and modernisation programme which provided details of 122 major school building projects countrywide which will prepare tenders and move to...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The recommendations of the task force on autism provide an invaluable basis for the development of educational services and supports for persons with autism. However, in responding to the recommendations, my Department has had to give priority to a number of key areas before detailed individual recommendations can be addressed. The key areas involve the implementation of the core legislative...