Written answers

Tuesday, 8 November 2005

Department of Education and Science

Educational Disadvantage

8:00 pm

Photo of Mary UptonMary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 120: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the timeframe for the allocation of the €40 million to be provided under the DEIS; the amount which will be provided for 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32782/05]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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DEIS, delivering equality of opportunity in schools, the new action plan for educational inclusion, which I launched last May, aims to ensure that the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities are prioritised and effectively addressed.

The plan provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated school support programme, SSP, which will bring together and build upon a number of existing interventions for schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage. Approximately 600 primary schools and 150 second level schools will be included in the school support programme. The new action plan will be implemented on a phased basis over the next five years, starting during the current school year, and will involve an additional annual investment of €40 million on full implementation. It will also involve the provision of some 300 additional posts across the education system.

Since 1997, the Government has increased funding on specific measures at primary and second level to tackle educational disadvantage by some 130% — from some €50 million in 1998 to about €120 million in the current year. The additional €40 million annual investment under this action plan on full implementation will represent a 33% increase on current expenditure and a three-fold increase in spending in this area since 1998.

Although the action plan is a five-year programme, a significant proportion of the additional supports involved are scheduled to be introduced during 2006 and 2007. The additional expenditure in 2006 will include investment in areas such as targeted reductions in class sizes at primary level, additional guidance counselling provision and increased access to reading and maths initiatives for pupils with literacy difficulties. While this will involve significant expenditure, announcement of the specific amount involved in 2006 will be made in the context of the publication of the Estimates.

The action plan will address all of the following key issues and needs: improving identification of disadvantage — a standardised approach will allow my Department to target resources more effectively; increasing early childhood education provision in the most disadvantaged communities; improving supports for pupils with low attainment levels in literacy and numeracy; enhancing procedures for measuring the outcomes achieved from educational inclusion measures; enhancing integration and partnership working both within the education sector and cross-sectorally; enhancing professional development supports for principals and school staff; and enhancing research and evaluation.

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