Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of all-girl primary schools in the country which will be affected by the reduction in learning support provision to four hours per mainstream teacher; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2943/12]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 93: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the economic savings which will be achieved by allocating four hours learning support provision per mainstream teacher to an all-girls school compared to five hours learning support provision per mainstream teacher to a mixed or all-boys school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2945/12]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 94: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the reduced learning support provision for an all-girls primary school of four hours per mainstream teacher will apply to a DEIS nand 2 primary school in view of the fact that children in disadvantaged schools exhibit more learning difficulties than children who are not regardless of gender; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2947/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 92 to 94, inclusive, together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that the revised arrangements, which will update schools' General Allocation Model (GAM) allocations, based on the number of class teaching posts in schools for the previous year, reflect existing arrangements whereby differing pupil teacher ratios are applied under the GAM in relation to boys, girls and mixed schools in order to account for differentials of prevalence of learning difficulty between boys and girls. The ratios which had previously applied are set out in my Departments Circular SP ED 02/05, which is available on www.education.ie.

There are no plans to reduce the overall number of learning support/resource teachers provided to schools under the General Allocation Model (GAM). There will therefore not be any economic savings arising from the revised arrangements. GAM allocations for primary schools will be updated from September 2012, through a redistribution of the existing GAM learning support resources, based on the number of classroom teaching posts in each school in the previous school year, which are themselves based on the preceding years enrolments.

The rationale for applying differing ratios for boys and girls schools is based on international literature on the incidence of disability as well as international and national surveys of literacy and numeracy which indicate that there is a greater incidence of disability/learning difficulty in boys than girls.

The NCSE Report on the Implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, of 2006, also examined a range of sources to establish prevalence rates, including national databases, local and international studies and expert estimates, which indicated significantly higher rates of Mild General Learning Difficulty and Specific Learning Disability prevailing in boys, in comparison to girls.

The revised arrangements will apply to all schools from September 2012, including DEIS Band 2 primary schools. DEIS schools will be provided with an allocation on the same rules applying to schools generally.

However, children attending schools in Band 2 of my Department's DEIS programme will continue to benefit from a range of additional supports including in school and out of schools supports which support their participation and engagement in school including enhanced provision of literacy and numeracy supports.

DEIS Band 2 primary schools are provided with various supports which include additional capitation funding based on level of disadvantage; allocation of administrative principal on lower figures than generally apply in primary schools in urban areas; additional funding for schools books; access to the School Meals Programme; access to numeracy/literacy supports and measures; access to Home School Community Liaison services; access to the School Completion Programme; and access to planning supports.