Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 454: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to recruit extra staff to the Education Welfare Board and the National Educational Psychological Service, both of which will prioritise disadvantaged schools. [18425/08]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 455: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to prioritise early assessment and increase the number of educational psychologists in his Department's National Educational Psychological Service to 200 by 2009. [18426/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 454 and 455 together.

As the Deputy will be aware all primary and post-primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Schools that do not currently have NEPS psychologists assigned to them may avail of the SCPA, whereby the school can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved and paid for by NEPS.

In common with many other psychological services and best international practice, NEPS encourages a staged assessment process, whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention, in consultation with their assigned NEPS psychologist. Only if there is a failure to make reasonable progress in spite of the school's best efforts, will a child be referred for individual psychological assessment. This system allows the psychologists to give early attention to urgent cases and also to help many more children indirectly than could be seen individually. It also ensures that children are not referred unnecessarily for psychological intervention.

The recently published document Special Needs Education — A Continuum of Support, which has been circulated to all primary school teachers, outlines this process which moves from simple classroom based interventions to more specialised and individual interventions. These guidelines describe a graduated problem solving model of assessment and intervention in schools and comprise three distinct school based processes which are summarised as follows:

Classroom Support — is an intervention which is co-ordinated by the Class Teacher and is carried out in the regular classroom,

School Support — is an assessment and intervention process which is usually co-ordinated by the learning support/resource teacher working alongside the class teacher. Interventions at this stage will be additional to those provided through classroom support.

School Support Plus — is generally characterised by the school requesting the involvement by the relevant external service in more detailed assessment and development of intervention programmes. This level of intervention is for children with complex and/or enduring needs and whose progress is considered inadequate, despite carefully planned interventions at previous levels.

Since May 2007 the number of psychologists employed within the NEPS service nationally has increased from 128 to 138 and during 2008 this complement will increase to 169. In this regard, following a national recruitment process, put in place in late 2007 by the Public Appointments Service, interviews have recently been completed and regional panels have been formed from which recruits will be drawn for appointment to priority regions. Currently some 28 offers have been made and some 21 of these are currently subject to the garda vetting process.

As these candidates are recruited, and following the normal period of induction and work-shadowing, these psychologists will be assigned schools with particular emphasis on those with DEIS status, continuing the ongoing priority afforded by the service to designated disadvantage schools.

It is my Department's intention to increase NEPS psychologist personnel to 200 during 2009. It is envisaged that this expansion in NEPS numbers will enable all schools to be served directly by NEPS psychologists.

NEWB

An additional 15 staff were approved for the NEWB in 2007 to bring the authorised staffing complement for the Board to 109. Twelve of these additional posts have now been filled. The Board is currently in the process of filling the remaining posts. These additional posts will enable the Board to build upon the existing service and enhance service delivery.

The service provided by the NEWB is just one aspect of the comprehensive framework that this Government has put in place to support schools, families and young people themselves. In this regard, extra supports targeted at young people in disadvantaged areas include both educational initiatives such as intensive literacy programmes and the provision of breakfast and homework clubs.

In fact, in addition to the NEWB, there are currently in excess of 620 staff within the education sector in education disadvantage programmes of which over 130 are additional posts allocated under DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the action plan for educational inclusion which provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP). The School Completion Programme (SCP) is a preventative measure designed to combat issues of poor attendance and early school leaving. School attendance is a central objective of SCP with targeted interventions for children at risk of early school leaving through a variety of extra supports aimed at encouraging them to stay in school. These supports cover both educational and non-educational interventions and are provided during and outside of school time. The Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) works to involve parents in their children's education which is a crucial component in convincing young people of the value of education.

Work is ongoing to develop appropriate protocols for all agencies and services to work together in collaboration. This approach aims to develop the delivery of services in a cohesive way and ensure that optimum use is made of the resources deployed.