Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to be here. I took the opportunity earlier today to extend my good wishes for the new year to everyone gathered in the Chamber and I do likewise now. It is always a pleasure to be in the Seanad. I particularly thank the Cathaoirleach for the invitation to join Senators to reflect on the joint committee's report, one year on from its adoption. I am pleased to be joined by the Chair of the committee and I thank him for his presence and his presentation.

As Senators know, the continued safe and sustainable operation of schools has been a key priority for me as Minister for Education, and for the Government, throughout the pandemic. That we are discussing the report on the first day of business for the Seanad in this new year speaks to the importance that Senators also attach to this, and I want to acknowledge their ongoing and significant commitment to all issues pertaining to education.I also acknowledge the hard work and commitment of the education partners, working together with the Department of Education and with public health, to ensure that our schools have reopened following the Christmas break.

Since the report was published, a number of additional measures have been put in place in schools, and I wish to use the opportunity today to inform Senators of those measures. As outlined, the report was divided into three modules. I will speak first about module 1, which dealt with "Ensuring that schools are open in a manner which is both safe and sustainable", with a focus on Covid measures in particular. Module 2 dealt with matters relating to the leaving certificate and module 3 dealt with a number of non-Covid related items.

On module 1, and as I have mentioned previously, the continued safe and sustainable operation of schools has been a key priority for me and for the Government. The approach to supporting schools to operate safely during Covid-19 has been to follow and implement public health advice. In its report, the joint committee emphasised the importance of adequate funding at both primary and secondary level. I am aware of the very significant costs incurred in keeping schools safe during Covid-19 and my Department has committed to ensuring that the full range of measures necessary to allow schools to operate safely in the Covid-19 environment will continue to be available for the 2021-22 school year.

A range of supports is being made available to schools to provide for enhanced cleaning, PPE and hand hygiene, as well as enhanced supervision. For example, more than €122 million of capitation funding has been made available to primary and post-primary schools to cater for PPE and hand sanitiser requirements up to the end of the current school year. This enables schools to have available a stock of adequate PPE, where required, on an ongoing basis. Payments in regard to the second term of the 2021-22 school year, which covers the period January to March 2022, issued recently to all schools.

Since the report was published last year, NPHET has also reviewed its advice on face masks in the context of the Omicron variant. It has been advised by the CMO that all face coverings, including cloth face coverings, offer significant protection against Covid-19. The CMO further advises that anyone who wishes to wear a medical grade face mask or respirator mask instead of a cloth mask should do so. Schools have been advised that where staff prefer to wear medical grade face masks, they can be sourced from the procurement framework in place for schools. Children in third class and above now also wear face masks in school, as advised by public health.

Strong communication with schools and strong engagement with students, parents and staff is vital to ensuring that the experience of our schools is one that is as positive, responsive and supportive as possible for both students and their parents. This is of critical importance, both during exceptional circumstances such as the current pandemic and more generally. A communication and awareness campaign has been launched to remind parents and the wider school community of important public health messages aimed at reducing the impact and spread of Covid-19.

As I am sure Senators will be aware, since the joint committee recommended in its report that air monitors should be installed in all primary and post-primary schools, the roll-out of CO2 monitors to primary and post-primary schools commenced in August 2021. Over 37,500 CO2 monitors have been dispatched to schools nationwide. The Department of Education has provided schools with detailed guidance about the practical measures schools should deploy to ensure good ventilation while ensuring an appropriate balance between ventilation and comfort. To provide additional support in the context of Covid-19, the payment of an enhanced minor works grant totalling €45 million for primary schools and special schools, plus once-off Covid-19 minor works funding of €17 million for post-primary schools, was issued in December 2021. Given that each school setting is different, individual schools are best placed to decide how best to use this funding to address their particular needs. Specialist advice or assistance of a chartered engineer or registered architect is an important source of support for schools. This will help to ensure that appropriate solutions are being put in place to address specific ventilation issues, including advice on whether a HEPA air cleaner unit is required to deal with a poorly ventilated room. My Department continues to engage with expert groups to ensure guidance provided to schools is based on the most up-to-date information available. The Department also continues to engage with and support schools on this matter.

The Covid-19 pandemic and associated school closures have had adverse consequences for many children and their families. However, the effect on children with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage is even greater. My Department provided a number of additional supports for children with special educational needs and those at risk of educational disadvantage in the 2020-21 school year. This included provision for enhanced digital communication, teaching and learning platforms. Additional guidance was provided for schools on how to provide for the continuity of schooling for pupils with special educational needs. The Department also put in place a supplementary programme to provide additional support to pupils who have complex needs, which was availed of by over 14,000 pupils, and an expanded summer programme which saw an increase of 65% in the number of pupils availing of the programme. The Covid learning and support scheme, or CLASS, has been introduced for the 2021-22 school year to mitigate the adverse effects on pupils' learning loss and well-being arising from the periods of school closures.

Given the current case numbers, the Department recognises that schools will continue to require additional substitute cover in the period leading up to the mid-term break to assist in dealing with absences during this phase of the pandemic. A range of measures have been put in place to assist schools in this regard. Schools have been advised that they should maximise the provision of in-person teaching and learning for as many students as possible in these circumstances.

With regard to school transport, the Department engaged intensively with Bus Éireann in regard to the logistics for the safe operation of school transport scheme services for the 2021-22 school year. In line with the lifting of restrictions on public transport, implementation commenced after the October mid-term break for post-primary school transport services to resume operating at 100% capacity. All other measures relating to hygiene, pre-assigned seating, cleaning and the wearing of masks by post-primary students remain in place, subject to further review. With regard to primary transport, measures relating to hygiene, pre-assigned seating and cleaning continue to be in place also. The Department continues to provide funding for all additional hygiene measures required on school transport services, including the necessary funding to ensure all bus drivers and bus escorts receive the requisite PPE. The required funding to schools and school bus contractors has been provided for this purpose. With regard to post-primary special needs transport services, the Department is working with schools on a case-by-case basis where such services may be required to continue operating at 50% capacity.

With regard to the impact of the pandemic on last year's State examinations, in particular the leaving certificate, I am very aware that all students have experienced a degree of disruption to their teaching and learning. A key priority for the Government was ensuring that the 2021 leaving certificate cohort was treated as fairly and equitably as possible, having regard to the adverse impact of Covid-19. Students were offered both the option of doing the leaving certificate examinations and receiving accredited grades.

Looking ahead towards this year's examinations, in response to the ongoing degree of disruption to students who are due to sit State examinations in 2022, details were announced in August 2021 of adjustments to the assessment arrangements for the junior cycle and leaving certificate of 2022. The adjustments made ensure that the overall structure of the examinations remains intact but will allow for greater choice for students. The level of adjustment is similar to that applied to the assessment arrangements for the 2021 examinations that were announced in December 2020. I also announced that an alternative set of leaving certificate examinations will be run in 2022, shortly after the conclusion of the main set of examinations. This will be available to certain students who are unable to sit the main set of examinations due to close family bereavement, Covid-19 illness and certain other categories of serious illness. On 20 December last, a further announcement was made regarding the arrangements for leaving certificate oral examinations in Irish and the modern foreign languages, and the practical performance tests in leaving certificate music. These will now take place outside of school time over the first week of the school Easter holidays, with the examinations running in schools during the six-day period, Saturday, 9 April to Thursday, 14 April, inclusive.Holding these examinations over Easter and outside of school time will minimise disruption for students and schools. The State Examinations Commission, SEC, will issue further details regarding the 2022 examinations, guided by prevailing public health advice.

The Department of Education continues to engage with education stakeholders in relation to planning for the 2022 State examinations. The advisory group on planning for the examinations has been and continues to be centrally involved. The membership of this group includes representatives of students, parents, teachers and school leaders, as well as representatives from the SEC, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, the Higher Education Authority, HEA and my own Department. A further meeting of the advisory group is planned to take place tomorrow.

In my remaining time I would like to address briefly the recommendations in the final module of the joint committee's report. In particular, I wish to deal with the recommendations on reduced timetables and their use in schools. I am happy to confirm that guidelines and a circular on the use of reduced timetables were issued to schools in September of 2021. Having allowed time for implementation, these guidelines came into effect from 1 January 2022.

A new online course for primary and post-primary teachers addressing the topic of cyberbullying is under development. The course will be provided this year by the Professional Development Service for Teachers, PDST, technology in education team on its online platform teachercpd.ie. I have also asked my officials to commence a review of my Department's 2013 action plan on bullying and the 2013 anti-bullying procedures for primary and post-primary schools. This review will take account of developments and relevant research since the action plan and procedures were published in 2013 and will specifically consider areas such as cyberbullying and gender identity bullying. The review will also give detailed consideration to the recommendations contained in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science report on school bullying and its impact on mental health, which was published in August 2021. I am very aware and fully appreciate that any case of bullying is one case too many. It is an area of important work that we will progress as a matter of priority.

I am pleased that budget 2022 provided for an allocation of €18 million for 2022 and €32 million for 2023 to extend the DEIS programme to further schools with the highest levels of disadvantage. This represents an increase of over 20% in funding for the DEIS programme and will enable an expansion in 2022 to additional schools. This package follows an extensive body of work that has been undertaken by the DEIS technical group in relation to the development of a model to identify the concentrated levels of disadvantage in our schools.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the invitation to attend today. I assure Senators that I and officials in my Department continue to work hard to address the many challenges of Covid-19 and to support students and school communities throughout the country. Again, I reiterate my thanks for the hard work being done by public health and our school communities to support all the children and young people we serve every day in the education sector.