Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 376: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a large proportion of pupils enrolled in a primary school (details supplied) previously attended DEIS schools, the special needs of many of these children remain to be addressed and that other schools with a lower incidence of special needs requirements are included in DEIS schools; the reason the school in question has not been included in DEIS schools; if he will review the situation with a view to including this school in Delivering Equality of Opportunities in Schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47829/09]

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

My Department's policy is to support the inclusive education of students with special educational needs across the schools system. In this context, a range of supports are provided to schools to enable them to cater for pupils with special educational needs. The supports available include additional teaching support, special needs assistant support, school transport and grants for the purchase of teaching materials and specialised equipment.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from primary and post primary schools for special educational needs supports. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie. The school in question currently has the support of two learning support/resource teaching (LS/RT) posts and one resource teacher post to cater for children with special educational needs.

As the Deputy may be aware, the school in question is among a number of schools that were judged by an independent identification process in 2005 not to have a sufficient level of disadvantage among its pupils to warrant their inclusion in DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools). 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 my Department's regional offices and the Inspectorate.

A review mechanism was put in place in 2006 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 procedures were properly followed in the case of schools applying for a review. The review was concluded and the results were notified to schools in August 2006. There was an application for review received from the school in question. The school was unsuccessful in that process. However, in recognition of the circumstances faced by the school and to enable it avail of the Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) service an additional allocation of support has been provided to the school as an exceptional measure.

The main focus of Social Inclusion measures is to retain resources in schools participating in DEIS, as there is a need to focus targeted resources on the schools serving the most disadvantaged communities. This approach is in line with the broad thrust of the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General which are set out in his report on Primary Disadvantage of 2006, which recommended that my Department focus its educational disadvantage measures on those schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.

My Department is currently preparing for the next identification process to select schools for inclusion in DEIS. A comprehensive consultation process to include relevant education stakeholders will be put in place to ensure that the identification process meets the needs and concerns of all stakeholders. It is not yet possible to determine when the process will be complete.