Results 14,441-14,460 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Pupil-Teacher Ratio. (5 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Any award winner is only as good as those marking her. We are enjoying a shared, reflected glory in the Chamber today. If we did not make a priority of special needs and disadvantage we would have much smaller class sizes at junior level. Is anybody in this Chamber or elsewhere going to tell me that special needs and disadvantage should not be a major priority?

Pupil-Teacher Ratio. (5 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I know the thoughts of each person here on that issue. I invested in those two areas first because they are top priorities for me and the Government. I have made a commitment this year and for next year on class size and look forward, when I am re-elected, le cúnamh Dé, to being able to do even more about this problem. I am nothing if not up front and honest about it. Schools will recognise...

State Examinations. (5 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Since 1975 each candidate who takes the junior certificate examination, the intermediate certificate prior to 1992, has been awarded a certificate showing the grades obtained in each subject in the range A through to NG, with no reference to failure, pass or honours. In this way no student is labelled a failure but is given due recognition for his or her achievements in each examination...

State Examinations. (5 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: While we are concerned about failure rates in any subject, the failure rates in science are no worse than those found in other subjects, particularly where students might be taking a subject at the wrong level. While the failure rate in higher level junior certificate science is 6.9%, the failure rate in higher level junior certificate history, a popular subject which is taken by virtually...

State Examinations. (5 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I am concerned about the take-up of science subjects at leaving certificate level. Despite the fact that we have invested quite heavily in resources, such as the summer work scheme, under which a number of schools will upgrade their science laboratories, there is a drop in the take-up of science subjects at leaving certificate from the healthy levels found at junior certificate level. The...

State Examinations. (5 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I will ensure that whatever measures need to be taken within the Department to identify problems are taken.

Written Answers — School Services Staff: School Services Staff (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department provides funding towards the cost of providing secretarial and caretaking services in primary schools under two separate schemes. One is the 1978-79 scheme for the employment of full-time secretaries and caretakers in primary schools, under which the Department meets the full cost of salary. This scheme is being phased out as posts become vacant and no new ones are being...

Written Answers — School Services Staff: School Services Staff (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department provides funding towards the cost of providing secretarial and caretaking services in primary schools under two separate schemes. One scheme is the 1978-79 scheme for the employment of full-time secretaries and caretakers in primary schools, under which my Department meets the full cost of salary. This scheme is being phased out as posts become vacant and no new posts are being...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 461 and 559 together. The review of the one-teacher schools is ongoing. As part of the review, inspectors of my Department have been asked to submit reports on the individual schools involved. When their reports have been received and considered discussions will be held with representatives of the interested parties.

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: DEIS, delivering equality of opportunity in schools, the new action plan for educational inclusion, provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated school support programme, SSP. The process of identifying primary and second level schools for participation in the new school support programme has been completed. As a result of the identification...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The proposed extension project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an early stage of architectural planning and is one of the 124 schools that I announced in April of 2005 to progress through the architectural planning process. The educational worksheet to which the Deputy refers was returned to my Department in December 2005 and following this a schedule of overall accommodation...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As I have informed the House on previous occasions, my Department has introduced a general allocation model of additional resources to all primary schools for children in the high incidence categories of special educational needs. This enables an automatic response on the part of schools to any child deemed to be in need of additional teaching resources. In the case of children within these...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The vast bulk of the cost of school building projects is borne by my Department. In general, where a school is not owned by my Department, a local contribution of 10% of the project cost is required for school building projects. This is capped at €63,500 for new schools and €31,500 for extension projects. The amount of the local contribution for schools with disadvantaged status is 5% of...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: An application for an extension to the school referred to by the Deputy is currently under consideration in my Department. The assessment of the application includes a determination of the long-term projected staffing at the school which is informed by consideration of factors such as current and projected pupil numbers at the school, the likely impact of housing developments and existing...

Written Answers — Redundancy Provisions: Redundancy Provisions (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department has reached agreement on the terms of a redundancy package for special needs assistants, SNAs, employed in primary and second level schools. I expect that confirmation of the provisions of the redundancy arrangements will issue to schools shortly. In this particular case, I can confirm that an application form for redundancy payment has been received in my Department. As soon as...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding from the school to which the Deputy refers. The application, which is for a PE hall only, has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects and assigned a band 4 rating. Progress on the project is being considered in the context of the school building and modernisation...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 469 and 471 together. There are six primary gaelscoileanna in County Kildare. In the 2004-05 school year, the last year for which details are available, these schools were paid a total of €432,612.54 towards their day-to-day running costs. A total of 57 full-time primary teachers were employed in the six schools in question in the 2004-05 school year. The...

Written Answers — Schools Recognition: Schools Recognition (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: It is not clear to what additional regulations the Deputy refers. Section 10 of the Education Act 1998 provides for the recognition of new schools by the Minister. The application procedure for the process involved was revised in 2002 based on the recommendations in the Commission on School Accommodation's report, Criteria and Procedures for the Recognition of New Primary Schools. The...

Written Answers — School Management: School Management (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Section 8 of the Education Act 1998 provides that the person who was recognised as a patron, trustee, member of the board of governors, or the owners of a school in the absence of governors-trustees, at the time of commencement of the Act was automatically entitled to be a patron for the purposes of the Education Act. In any other case, the patron is the person requesting recognition of a...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (4 Apr 2006)

Mary Hanafin: There are six primary gaelscoileanna in County Kildare. In the 2004-05 school year, the last year for which details are available, these schools were paid a total of €432,612.54 towards their day-to-day running costs. A total of 57 full-time primary teachers were employed in the six schools in question in the 2004-05 school year. The average cost of employing a teacher in a primary school...