Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 411: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the difference in value to a school given the designation of urban DEIS as distinct from rural DEIS; the funding, resources and facilities available to a rural school as opposed to an urban school; the cost of each scheme for the past five years; the criteria set out for each designation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3001/09]

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). DEIS brings together and builds upon a number of existing interventions in schools with concentrated levels of disadvantage.

The process of identifying schools for participation in DEIS was managed by the Educational Research Centre (ERC) on behalf of the Department and supported by quality assurance work co-ordinated through the Department's regional offices and the Inspectorate. There are 876 schools in DEIS. These comprise 673 primary schools (199 Urban Band 1, 141 Urban Band 2 and 333 Rural) and 203 second-level schools.

The ERC's overall approach was guided by the definition of educational disadvantage in the Education Act (1998), as: ". . . the impediments to education arising from social or economic disadvantage which prevent students from deriving appropriate benefit from the education in schools".

In the primary sector, the identification process was based on a survey carried out by the ERC in May 2005, from which a response rate of more than 97% was achieved. The analysis of the survey returns from primary schools by the ERC identified the socio-economic variables that collectively best predict achievement, and these variables were then used to identify schools for participation in the School Support Programme. The variables involved were:

% unemployment,

% local authority accommodation,

% lone parenthood,

% Travellers,

% large families (5 or more children),

% pupils eligible for free books.

The identification process was in line with international best practice and had regard to and employed the existing and most appropriate data sources available. Primary schools serving rural communities including towns with populations below 1500 are designated as rural.

In relation to the supports available under the DEIS programme, the following supports are available to both urban and rural DEIS schools:

additional non-pay/capitation allocation based on level of disadvantage.

financial allocation under the School Books Grant Scheme.

access to the School Meals Programme.

access to Home, School, Community Liaison services or access to Rural Co-ordinator.

access to planning supports.

In addition to this, urban DEIS schools also benefit from:

reduced class size of 20:1 in junior classes and 24:1 in senior classes (Band 1 urban schools only);

allocation of administrative principal on lower enrolment and staffing figures than apply in primary schools generally;

access to literacy/numeracy supports such as Reading Recovery, First Steps, Maths Recovery;

access to the School Completion Programme.

A new streamlined model for allocating financial supports was devised in 2006 which took account of level of disadvantage and relevant financial supports already in place and replaced all other models of grants paid to schools under previous disadvantaged programmes.

The grants paid per eligible pupil are based on schools' level of disadvantage relative to other schools as identified by the new DEIS identification process. The same rate of grant is paid in respect of each eligible pupil in both DEIS Urban and DEIS Rural schools.

For the 2008/2009 school year, urban DEIS schools received DEIS grants totalling €8.66 million and rural DEIS schools were in receipt of DEIS grants totalling €1.86 million.

For the 2007/2008 school year, urban DEIS schools received DEIS grants totalling €8.3 million and rural DEIS schools were in receipt of DEIS grants totalling €1.84 million.

For the 2006/2007 school year, urban DEIS schools received DEIS grants totalling €7.06 million and rural DEIS schools were in receipt of DEIS grants totalling €1.5 million.