Written answers

Wednesday, 5 November 2008

Department of Education and Science

Educational Disadvantage

10:00 pm

Photo of Joanna TuffyJoanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 373: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the impact the budget 2009 cutbacks will have on the quality of teaching and learning of pupils in a school (details supplied) in County Dublin which is a disadvantaged school; if his attention has further been drawn to the fact that the decision to reduce the language support teachers will have a serious impact on this school; if he will ensure that the DEIS concessionary post and other supports will remain in place at this school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38677/08]

Photo of Batt O'KeeffeBatt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The 2009 Budget required difficult choices to be made across all areas of public expenditure. These decisions were made to control public expenditure and to ensure sustainability in the long run. In this respect education while protected to a much greater extent than most other areas of public expenditure could not be totally spared. Among those decisions was to advance the withdrawal of supports from non DEIS schools to the beginning of the next school year. The main focus of Social Inclusion Measures will be to retain resources in DEIS schools.

In terms of language support the budget measures will mean that the level of language support will be reduced from a maximum of six extra teachers per school to a maximum of two teachers per school, as was the case before 2007. However, the ongoing requirement for current levels of language support teachers in schools should also start to reduce in line with lower levels of immigration and in line with improvements in the levels of proficiency of those pupils for whom this resource has been available.

As I announced on budget day we will also provide for some alleviation for the position of those schools where there is a significant concentration of newcomer pupils as a proportion of the overall enrolment. This will be done on a case by case basis.

The allocation process for language support teachers is an annual one and existing provision is not rolled over automatically. Schools will be applying afresh in the spring and early summer of 2009 for the 2009/10 school year, based on their assessment of the prospective needs of existing pupils and any new pupils they are enrolling.

In terms of the staffing implications at individual school level, the allocation processes including notification to schools will commence early in the New Year. The allocation process includes appellate mechanisms under which schools can appeal against the allocation due to them under the staffing schedules. The final allocation to a school is also a function of the operation of the redeployment panels which provide for the retention of a teacher in an existing school if a new post is not available within the agreed terms of the scheme.

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