Results 19,361-19,380 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

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 4,064 pupils with specific learning disability, SLD, attending mainstream primary schools. The census was undertaken in 2003 to ensure that up to date information on children with special educational needs was available to my Department. Where the condition of a pupil with...

Written Answers — Post-Leaving Certificate Courses: Post-Leaving Certificate Courses (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The McIver report on the post-leaving certificate review was commissioned by my Department to examine the sector and make recommendations regarding the organisational, support, development, technical and administrative structures and resources required in schools and colleges with large scale post-leaving certificate, PLC, provision, having regard to good practice in related areas across the...

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

Mary Hanafin: My Department considers the issue of bullying in schools as a priority for action and is fully supportive of any measures which address this issue. In this regard, my Department is actively engaged in a number of activities and its "Guidelines on Countering Bullying Behaviour in schools" provide a national framework within which individual school management authorities may meet their...

Written Answers — Suicide Prevention: Suicide Prevention (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am aware of the serious problem of youth suicide and of the vital role that schools can play in prevention. Prevention needs to be addressed at whole school level through provision of relevant curricula for all children, through effective implementation of the social, personal and health education, SPHE, programme, and through the provision of care afforded by a good pastoral system,...

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

Mary Hanafin: There are currently in the region of 3,000 vehicles in use each day providing school transport services on behalf of my Department under the school transport scheme. This fleet is made up of Bus Éireann large capacity school buses, which represent about 20% of all the vehicles used, and the remainder are contractor's vehicles, including minibuses and cars. Under existing regulations, large...

Written Answers — Capitation Grants: Capitation Grants (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Differing funding arrangements have evolved for the different school types at second level. At the core of all arrangements is a reliance upon capitation as the principle determinant of funding. There are, however, significant differences in the approaches to the funding of back-up services such as for secretaries and caretakers. In my view, it is important to consider any changes in the...

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 573 pupils with physical disabilities attending mainstream primary schools. Pupils with a physical disability who have learning difficulties arising from the disability may need resource teaching in cases where there are consequent significant learning difficulties. Such pupils...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Early Start pre-school project was established in 40 primary schools in designated areas of urban disadvantage in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Drogheda and Dundalk during 1994 and 1995. The aims of Early Start are to expose young children to an educational programme which would enhance their overall development, prevent school failure and offset the effects of social...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Select Committee on Education and Science concluded Committee Stage of the Grangegorman Development Agency Bill on 16 December 2004. The purpose of this Bill is to establish an agency whose function, in the first instance, is to prepare a strategic planning scheme for the Grangegorman site. The plan must provide for the needs of the Dublin Institute of Technology, the Eastern Regional...

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 101, 127 and 128 together. The OECD review of Irish higher education makes far reaching recommendations for reform and development of the sector, against a background of the crucial role that has been identified for higher education in achieving Ireland's broad strategic objective of becoming a world leading knowledge based economy. The report identified a...

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....