Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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67. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when she will publish a new school completion strategy to further improve school completion rates, particularly in disadvantaged areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15223/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am committed to improving attendance and participation in education, especially for vulnerable children. The School Completion Strategy is a commitment in the Programme for Government and is a particular priority for me.

I will work closely with the Minister for Education and Skills in developing this new Strategy. In preparing it, I want to make sure that it takes full account of a number of important inputs. Firstly, the recently published Review of the DEIS Programme, which targets supports to schools and students in the most disadvantaged areas will inform the development of the School Completion Strategy. The results of the DEIS Review will have an important influence, for example, on where we should target our attention for support in school completion.

Secondly, I will take account of the new Action Plan for Educational Inclusion which is focused on securing good educational outcomes for all children, especially those at risk of educational disadvantage.

Thirdly, I want the Strategy to be built on an improved system of governance and operational management. Tusla has already taken steps in this area to strengthen the operation of the existing School Completion Programme. This is based on the ESRI Review of the Programme that was prepared on behalf of Tusla last year and these reforms are critical in advance of a new strategy.

I want to ensure that the new School Completion Strategy meets the needs of our most disadvantaged children and that it charts a realistic, children-focused approach for the years ahead.

I hope to progress the Strategy in the second half of 2017, leaving time for the inputs from the DEIS Review and the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion. I think it is important to say that the School Completion Strategy will go further than the School Completion Programme does in that it will deal with school completion across all schools rather than just being limited to DEIS schools. The development of the strategy must be cross-departmental and inter-agency in nature to include all relevant educational and other partners; management bodies, statutory Education & Training Boards, representative bodies for school management, Tusla and the Department of Education and Skills.