Results 12,341-12,360 of 19,598 for speaker:Norma Foley

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 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: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: In recent weeks, I have attended a meeting with the advisory group on State examinations, which has representatives of students, parents, teachers, managerial bodies, the further and higher education sector, and the State Examinations Commission, SEC. Following on from this meeting, I met with the members of the advisory group on a bilateral basis and also had further engagement with each of...

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: Education Schemes (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: Again, to confirm to the Deputy, the process of refining the DEIS identification model has been a consequence of and is reliant on the engagement of a variety of stakeholders, as I have already outlined, including school management, national parent representative bodies, unions and so on, particularly with regard to the technical aspects of the refinement. In advance of completion and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Educational Reform (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I thank Deputy Murphy for his question. I watched much of the discussion this evening on "Six One". In the main, students asked for clarity regarding leaving certificate 2022 and they acknowledged they have received that. In fact, the students asked for four things when I met them. The second thing they asked was that there would be additional changes made to the exam papers and we have...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Educational Reform (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: To the Deputy's suggestion that we are just ploughing on I would say, far from it. He should take time to study what has been put in place in terms of these exams in June. It is very clear the exams in June are very different from what has been offered previously. For example, students studying maths would traditionally have had ten questions to answer but there is such significant choice...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Educational Reform (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I have to be very clear that the question of access to higher education is a policy matter which is not under my remit but under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. I am aware it is a key of objective of that Department to ensure there is access into either further or higher education for each person who wishes to pursue...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Educational Reform (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I am just making the point the Deputy said-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Educational Reform (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: -----very clearly that we have not answered the needs of students, but I am saying we specifically went through each of the four issues that were raised by students. They asked for clarity, greater choice and that we would address the issues of grade inflation and accredited grades. We were able to address three out of four of those issues for them, but because of an absence of data, we...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education Schemes (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: Budget 2022 has provided for an allocation of €18 million for 2022 and €32 million for 2023 to extend the delivery of DEIS programme to further schools with the highest levels of disadvantage. This package represents an increase of more than 20% on the €150 million already allocated by my Department to provide supports for schools in the DEIS programme. The programme...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education Schemes (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: We intend to be in a position to roll out the DEIS model for 2022. We have an ambition programme of funding being made available for it. It was a considerable achievement that, for budget 2022, there was €18 million available, rising to €32 million in 2023, with the explicit intention of enhancing or extending the DEIS model in our schools. A greater number of schools will be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: Access to Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) is an important right for students. This is reflected in the Programme for Government, which states that this Government will develop inclusive and age appropriate curricula for Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) and Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) across primary and post-primary schools, including an inclusive...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Places (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy may be aware, 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.  Additionally,...