Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

512. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to set out the number of all-girl primary schools; the total number of pupils in these schools; the cost to her Department, if these schools were allocated five hours of learning support per mainstream teacher as opposed to four hours of learning support per mainstream teacher, under the current rules of the general allocation model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17865/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I wish to advise the Deputy that differing teacher allocation ratios are applied under the General Allocation Model (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 objective of this differentiation is to ensure that resources provided to schools to support children who have additional learning needs are targeted to ensure that those children most in need benefit from these resources.

The rationale for the differing ratios 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 has published a report 'A study of the Prevalence of Special Educational Needs' which is available at www.ncse.ie and which contains details regarding the prevalence of special needs among the pupil population including noting gender differentials.

It should be noted that schools in Delivering Equality of Opportunity in School Band 1 category also receive an additional base allocation of 0.4 of a post if the school has 200 or more pupils or an additional 0.2 of a post if the school has less than 200 pupils.

For the 2014/15 school year there are 164 schools classified as Girls Schools for GAM allocation purposes with total enrolments of 48,007 pupils. The estimated cost of the cost if these schools were allocated five hours' learning support per mainstream teacher, as opposed to 4 hours' learning support per mainstream teacher, under the current rules of the General Allocation Model would be approximately €4.25m per annum.

The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has recommended the development of a new model for delivering teaching resources to schools to support students with special needs.

Through consultations, there was a broad welcome for the proposed new model from Parents, disability groups, schools and stakeholders. However, there has not been sufficient time to address all of the concerns which have been raised in advance of the 2015 school year.

My Department is, however, continuing to develop the new allocation model for schools and is currently working to devise a pilot of the new model. Issues regarding any adjustments to the existing allocation process will therefore be considered in the context of the development of a new allocation model.

It should be noted, however, that the NCSE report recommended that gender should continue to be a factor in deciding on school profile for resource allocation purposes.