Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 666: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress made in relation to the programme for Government proposal to complete the roll-out of the DEIS action plan to ensure a comprehensive package of targeted supports for school children in the most disadvantaged areas. [28715/08]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the action plan for educational inclusion, provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and an integrated School Support Programme (SSP). As a result of the identification and review processes, 873 schools have been included in the new School Support Programme (SSP) under DEIS. These comprise 670 primary schools (urban and rural) and 203 second-level schools.

The plan is being rolled out on a phased basis over the period to 2010.

The following progress has been made in relation to the roll out of the action plan.

In respect of the 2007/08 school year, grants amounting to approximately €10 million issued to the 670 Primary schools which are participating in the DEIS Initiative. Almost €5 million was paid in the course of the year in respect of the 203 Post Primary schools participating in the initiative and 76 Post Primary Schools receiving grants under pre-existing schemes. Also approximately another 1,900 primary schools received almost €4 million of grant assistance to assist them with their respective levels of dispersed disadvantage.

2006 saw the implementation of targeted class size reductions of 20:1 in junior classes and 24:1 in senior classes in 190 urban/town primary schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.

In the 2006/2007 school year access to teacher/co-ordinator support for any of the rural primary schools, not already in receipt of such support under a previous measure, was implemented.

The roll-out has seen the extension of literacy and numeracy programmes, including Reading Recovery and ready set go, maths for schools in the urban primary strand of DEIS and the commencement of the family literacy project under which 7 projects have been selected for support.

25 schools have been selected to join the Junior Certificate School Programme (JCSP) in 2008, which is in addition to the 28 schools which joined the JCSP programme in September 2007. 138 DEIS schools are currently providing the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) programme. It is intended to have all DEIS schools providing LCA by 2010.

Templates for three year action plans to support school planning were introduced into schools in the primary strand of DEIS during autumn 2007. Planning templates will be introduced in DEIS post primary schools in the coming school year. The Department has commenced an evaluation of measures under DEIS that will continue over the period to 2010.

Under DEIS, Home/School/Community liaison and School Completion Programme services have been extended to any of the urban/town primary schools and second-level schools not already benefiting from them.

An additional 80 posts were provided under DEIS for the expansion of HSCL and in the region of €30 million has been allocated to HSCL for 2008. 184,000 pupils attending 651 schools (281 post primary & 370 primary) have access to Home School Community Liaison, with approx. 50,000 of these pupil's families being specifically targeted for the services of 450 local Home School Community Liaison Coordinators.

€31.160 million has been allocated to the School Completion Programme. 124 projects, targeting over 36,000 young people, are now participating in the School Completion Programme and spanning 26 counties.

The 124 projects includes 81 projects originally selected to participate in SCP in 2002 and 43 new SCP clusters created in 2006/07 including the new DEIS schools. An evaluation of the SCP is scheduled to take place in 2008 in order to measure the effectiveness of interventions in place in tackling early school leaving, to identify models of good practice and to inform future policy in relation to appropriate integration of SCP, along with other programmes, within the DEIS framework.