Results 17,881-17,900 of 19,666 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (8 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a direct result of COVID-19, which prevented the state from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations. The National Standardisation Group is the decision-making group responsible for the implementation of the iterative design and development cycles required to produce and refine the standardisation process...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my Department. In the 2019/2020 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (8 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I can confirm that the school in question submitted an application for capital funding under my Department's multi-annual Summer Works Scheme (SWS) 2020 onwards for Windows (Category 7). In late 2019, the details of the schools that will receive funding in Summer 2020 in respect of applications submitted for "Life Safety Systems projects" (Category 1) were announced. Commensurate with the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (8 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: A potential site option has been identified and discussions with the landowner are at an advanced stage with a view to acquiring this site. Due to the commercially sensitive nature of site acquisitions generally, it is not possible to comment further at this stage.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Industrial Disputes (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: Officials in the Department of Education and Skills have engaged with Fórsa throughout this process and remain committed to the ongoing process taking place under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. It is disappointing that in circumstances where talks are actually ongoing, the union has moved to industrial action, which will impact on the day-to-day operation of schools...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Industrial Disputes (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. I am keenly aware of the vital role contributed by school secretaries in our school communities. I absolutely recognise the very important work carried out by these staff and other support staff in the running of our schools. I have met Fórsa, which represents many of the secretaries working in our schools. In recognition of their valuable role in our schools I...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: My Department is in the process of finalising the project brief for the school referred to by the Deputy and expects to be in a position to make further contact with the Patron in this regard shortly.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the 2019/2020 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: My Department has agreed a Memo of Understanding with the Health and Safety Authority that reflects our shared objective of ensuring that the Return to Work Safety Protocol for addressing COVID-19 in the workplace is being implemented. In relation to school inspections, my Department’s Inspectorate will lead on visits to schools for the purposes of working with and advising schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Gender Balance (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: `The information available from my Departments' database indicates that there were 231 female principals employed in voluntary secondary and Community/ Comprehensive schools in the 2018/19 school year. There were 2,165 female principals employed in primary schools. The information in relation to the number of female principal teachers employed in ETBs would have to be obtained from each...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 111 and 112 together. The decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a direct result of COVID-19, which prevented the state from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations. The design of the Calculated Grades model was informed by advice from a Technical Working Group comprising experts drawn from the State Examinations...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a result of COVID-19, which prevented the State from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations. The purpose of this process was to allow as many students as possible to progress to employment, further education and training, or higher education. On 30 September, I made a statement that advising that two...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The Calculated Grades Student Portal reopened on 14 September to allow students to view their estimated percentage marks and calculated marks to allow students to consider this data if they were considering an appeal of their Calculated Grade. The appeals process is a process review focussed on looking for errors in the transmission and processing of student data through the process. It is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a result of COVID-19, which prevented the State from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations. The purpose of this process was to allow as many students as possible to progress to employment, further education and training, or higher education. On 30 September, I made a statement advising that two errors...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 116 and 117 together. The decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a direct result of COVID-19, which prevented the state from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations. As part of initial contingency planning for the Leaving Certificate 2020, the State Examinations Commission procured international expertise through...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The deadline for registration for the postponed Leaving Certificate 2020 examinations is 5.00pm on Wednesday 07 October. The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 119 and 145 together. The decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a result of COVID-19, which prevented the State from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations. The purpose of this process was to allow as many students as possible to progress to employment, further education and training, or higher education. On 30...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ombudsman for Children (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: My Department has had previous communication with the office of the Children’s Ombudsman in respect of concerns in relation to opting out of religious instruction in schools. My Department confirmed to the Ombudsman, that under Article 44 of the Constitution and Section 30 of the Education Act, 1998, parents have a right to have their children opt out of religious instruction or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ombudsman for Children (7 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019 reflects the commitment contained in the Programme for a Partnership Government to introduce a stronger complaints procedures and charter for parents. It is important to note that the overall approach in the Bill is to shift away from reacting to problems in schools after they arise, to an approach which aims to improve the day-to-day...