Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 596: To ask the Minister for Education and Science, in view of the inequalities in the system of education where students from wealthier backgrounds have access to grinds, summer courses, Saturday morning schools, trips abroad and trips to the Gaeltacht, the way in which she proposes to bring some balance into the system for the parents of students who cannot afford these additional aids. [5700/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The total provision for educational inclusion programmes in 2006 is approximately €647 million across all levels of education provision, ranging from pre-school interventions, supports for tackling children's literacy problems, reduced pupil-teacher ratios, increased capitation grants, free book grants scheme, measures to tackle early school leaving and strengthen ties between the school, the family and the community. In addition, there are interventions in support of youth and in providing second-chance education for young people and adults.

DEIS, Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, the new action plan for educational inclusion, addresses the educational needs of children and young people from three to 18 years of age in disadvantaged communities, from pre-school to completion of upper second level education. The new action plan represents a shift in emphasis away from individual initiatives, each addressing a particular aspect of the problem, as the new plan adopts a multi-faceted and more integrated approach.

Its core element comprises a standardised system for identifying and regularly reviewing levels of disadvantage. A new integrated school support programme, SSP, will bring together and build upon approximately ten existing educational inclusion measures. These include increased access to a range of academic supports such as one to one, small group tuition, literacy, numeracy and curricular supports, individual learning plans, revision and study skills courses and non-academic supports such as sports, recreational and extra-curricular activities, clubs and meal provision, after school supports and holiday time supports, based on best practices identified through the school completion programme. The identification process is being finalised and selected schools will be invited to participate in the new school support programme shortly.