Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 221: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if he will approve DEIS status for a school (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32882/08]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As the Deputy is aware DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the action plan for educational inclusion, provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP). The DEIS plan states that as well as provision being made for schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage, financial support will also continue to be provided for other primary schools where the level of disadvantage is more dispersed. The process of identifying schools for participation in DEIS was managed by the Educational Research Centre (ERC) on behalf of my Department and supported by quality assurance work co-ordinated through the Department's regional offices and the Inspectorate.

A review mechanism was put in place to address the concerns of schools that did not qualify for inclusion in DEIS but regarded themselves as having a level of disadvantage which was of a scale sufficient to warrant their inclusion in the programme. The review process operated under the direction of an independent person, charged with ensuring that all relevant identification processes and procedures were properly followed in the case of schools applying for a review. As a result of the identification and review processes, 673 primary and 203 second-level schools were invited to participate in the programme. The school referred to by the Deputy was not identified for inclusion in the programme nor did it make an application for a review. The school continues to receive financial support in line with the level of disadvantage among its pupils for the duration of the DEIS action plan.

The school also participates in the LINK School Completion Programme since 2002. The objective of the School Completion Programme is to provide a range of interventions in areas of disadvantage that support the retention of young people in education and aims to develop local strategies to ensure maximum participation levels in the education process, entails targeting individual young people of school-going age, both in and out of school, and arranging supports to address inequalities in education access, participation and outcomes. It is based on an integrated approach involving primary and post primary schools, parents, relevant statutory, voluntary and community agencies. The programme is funded on a multi-annual basis under the National Development Plan (NDP) and was assisted from the European Social Fund (ESF) up to 2007.