Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

195. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the stage at which the review of the school support programme through the DEIS initiative is at; when this review will be completed and published; if he envisages any changes to the funding or delivery model of the DEIS programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2999/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy is aware, a process to review the DEIS Programme which began in 2015 is progressing very well and it is my intention to publish a new Action Plan for Educational Inclusion in the coming weeks.

The review process is looking at all aspects of DEIS, including the range and impact of different elements of the School Support Programme, the potential for innovation within and between schools and its scope for increased integration of services provided by other Departments and Agencies, in order to improve effectiveness.

The review process includes the development of a new assessment framework using centrally held CSO and DES data for the identification of schools for inclusion in a new Programme. The number of schools to receive supports under a new School Support Programme will be determined by this new identification process, which will assess all schools in the country. Schools will not be required to submit an application for assessment as the methodology being applied involves the use of centrally held data already available to my Department.  

A series of pilot schemes aimed at introducing measures shown to work well in improving results for disadvantaged students will be introduced. Targeted measures to be included are, School Leadership, School networking/clustering, teaching methodologies, integration of all supports within communities, greater use of HSCL services.

Implementation of actions arising from the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion will begin in the 2017/18 school year, and will be a continuing theme in our wider Annual Action Plan for Education.