Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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51. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the detail of his Department’s inspection and supervision of the primary online database system, its function in respect of assessing school needs, appropriate funding and allocations of the capitation grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31561/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of POD is to monitor the progress of children through the education system in order to ensure that every student can meet their educational potential, and to ensure that every child of compulsory school age is in receipt of an education. POD data will underpin the provision of education in primary schools, with grant payments and teacher allocations to schools based on the individually verified data.

The PPS number will be used as the unique pupil identifier on POD. This will allow for a child’s educational history to be maintained accurately as they move school, as well as ensuring that there are no duplicate enrolments in the system. The PPS number will be obtained from the school and used to validate the identity of the pupil using the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform PPSN Checker service.

Each school can access only their own pupil’s records on POD. Within the Department of Education, access to the individualised information recorded on POD is restricted to a small number of staff within the Statistics Section.

While the database is hosted by and data will be accessible to the Department of Education and Skills, the pupils’ data is provided and kept up to date by the schools in which the pupils are enrolled.

This database contains the following individualised information on pupils in primary schools.

PPSN, Name, Address including Eircode, Birth Cert Name, Date of Birth, Gender, Mother’s Birth Cert Name, Standard, Class, Nationality, Enrolment Date, Enrolment Source, Leaving Date, Leaving Destination, Integrated Indicator, Irish Exemption Indicator, Pupil Type, Special Class Type, Mother Tongue, Ethnic/Cultural Background, Religion

The system allows schools to make online returns to the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and provides the Department with the comprehensive and in-depth information needed to develop and evaluate educational policy.

What is it used for

- Completion of the National School Annual Census–As of September 2016 POD is the mechanism for schools to complete the Annual Census

- Teacher allocation and payment of capitation and other grants –Information submitted through the Annual Census forms the basis for teacher allocation, capitation and grant payments for each school

- Resource allocation and planning purposes

- Statistical Information-POD is the source of statistical information for the primary school sector

- Register of pupils– POD has removed the need for schools to maintain a hardcopy of their school’s Clárleabhar, as all necessary information is recorded on the system

- Centralised updating of school information– POD provides a single point for schools to view and correct the details held by the Department.