Results 8,261-8,280 of 19,576 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services are being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 222 and 223 together. The summer course programme for teachers contributes to the continuum of teachers’ professional learning, promotes innovation and excellence in teaching, learning and assessment, and is supportive of the goals set out as per the new national priorities. The principal objective of the summer course programme is to improve the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: My officials have been in contact with the individual concerned and are dealing with the request.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware from Budget 2023, the staffing schedule will be 23:1 in mainstream primary schools from the 2023/24 school year, with lower rates applying in the DEIS Urban Band 1 schools. This is a further reduction on the already historically low level and the first time such a reduction has been made in three consecutive Budgets. The school to which the Deputy refers currently...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: In 2018, my Department established a Steering Group on Teacher Supply to facilitate multi-agency engagement and to lead on a coordinated programme of actions to support the supply of teachers. Arising from the work of this Group and its various substructures, the Teacher Supply Action Plan was published in November 2018. The Action Plan called for the development of upskilling programmes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: The project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved for delivery to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA), as part of the project bundle known as "Project Lee". A letter was issued by the Department to the school authority in 2022 to advise that the school in question had been included in the programme. The NDFA has since been in contact with the school to introduce the team,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education.  In the current school year over 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services are being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: The funding arrangements made by my Department for post primary schools reflect the sectoral division of our second-level system. At the core of all arrangements is reliance upon capitation as the principal determinant of funding. With regard to the ETB sector a financial allocation is made to each ETB to fund its schools and head office non-pay running costs.  The grant is based on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: The Special Education Teaching allocation, as outlined in Circular 0020/2022, (primary schools) and 0021/2022 (post primary schools) provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile and also encompasses the Language Support (EAL) allocation that schools were allocated in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education.  In the current school year over 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education.  In the current school year over 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.  In addition, school transport scheme services are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department is aware of increasing pressures and demand for additional school places in a number of school planning areas including Kilcock school planning area. Where capacity issues arise it may not be as a result of lack of accommodation but may be driven by the following factors: - Duplication of applications – pupils have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: In 2015 the Framework for Junior Cycle was published. A new specification for Modern Languages was introduced from September 2017. This involves French, German, Spanish and Italian. There is no current plan to introduce an additional subject to the Junior Cycle. Students undertaking the Junior Cycle programme can also undertake short courses. A short course is a new curriculum component...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: For school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Major new residential developments in a school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: According to my Department's Geographical Information System, the address referred to is in the Lucan School Planning Area. There are 19 primary schools and 8 post-primary schools in the Lucan school planning area.  The Education Act requires that I as the Minister for Education, as a function, to plan and co-ordinate the provision of education in recognised schools and to do...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998 and the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in that area. Parents have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 243 and 244 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that in order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, including Child Benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: The criteria required to have incremental credit awarded to qualified Special Needs Assistants(SNA's) is set out in Circular 0139/2006 and was agreed with the unions representing SNA's, School Management Representatives, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Education. An application for previous service as a Clerical Officer with the Department of Social...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) is a key initiative of my Department to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. My Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential. Supplementing these universal supports, the DEIS...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (8 Feb 2023)

Norma Foley: The Programme for Government (PFG) includes the commitment to ‘provide a range of free, adequate, safe, and suitable period products in all educational publicly-funded settings (including schools, colleges and HEIs), to ensure that no students are disadvantaged in their education by period poverty.’ The Government has also taken the decision to support the Private...