Written answers

Thursday, 30 July 2020

Department of Education and Skills

Covid-19 Pandemic

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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42. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures being taken to ensure the reopening of schools on 31 August 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19034/20]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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54. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the degree to which comprehensive preparations are in place to facilitate the return of children to the classrooms at primary and second level after the summer break; if issues have arisen that might need further attention; if she is satisfied that the return to the classroom will be nationwide without exception; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19315/20]

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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59. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the roadmap for a full return to primary and secondary education will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19405/20]

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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72. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans for school reopening in August and September 2020; when schools and teachers will be informed; and when the information in relation to same will be published. [19299/20]

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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77. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the arrangements made in relation reopening primary and secondary schools for the autumn 2020 term; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18541/20]

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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On Monday, 27 July, my Department published the report to Government “Reopening Our Schools, The Roadmap for the Full Return to School”.

This Roadmap set outs how schools will reopen for all students from the end of August and what the operation of our schools will look like and be sustainable in a COVID-19 context. It has been developed in line with public health advice issued by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), the Roadmap for Society and Business, and follows comprehensive and intensive engagement with education stakeholders including the school management bodies and staff representatives.

My Department is also providing capital and current funding of an additional €377 million to support the safe and sustainable reopening of schools under the Roadmap.

The supports are comprehensive across a range of areas, including funding for getting schools ready, for providing for additional supervision and substitution, and providing additional teachers to help with physical distancing and class sizes. Funding will also be provided for management supports and enhanced cleaning and hygiene measures

There will be an additional €52 million for schools to put in place enhanced cleaning and hygiene measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in schools. Enhanced grants are being made available for cleaning to schools with special classes and special schools.

Funding of approx. €84.7 million so that schools can employ replacement teaching staff, SNA and administrative staff. There will be additional funding of €41.2 million, for substitution in primary schools. This will provide more certainty on the availability of substitutes for primary schools and cover substitutions that are not covered by existing schemes. The Supply Panel Scheme will be expanded nationwide and I am allocating 200 posts to provide substitute cover through these panels. The purpose of supply panels is to support schools to manage the sick leave and other absences by having a supply of teachers to meet substitution needs when required. Schools will continue to be able to access substitute teachers through the normal process, particularly if they are not connected to a supply panel.

Other funding measures for primary schools include release days for teaching principals which equates to one release day per week and release time for deputy principals in primary schools with an admin principal.

There is also funding of €40m for enhanced supervision for post primary schools to minimise the interaction of students from different classes, in line with public health advice. An additional 1,080 teaching posts at post-primary level at a cost of €53 million will be provided to support the important work of teaching and learning and provide additional teachers needed to support teacher substitution, management of physical distancing requirements by reallocating class timetables in schools to smaller groups class sizes where necessary.

Funding of €4.2 million will also be made available to enable schools to employ an aide to assist with implementing logistical changes. €3.8m is being made available to ensure that schools have lead worker representatives, whose role is to support the school to limit the risk of COVID-19 infections.

I also recognise that the full implementation of the COVID-19 Response Plans for Schools, and the Public Health Advice, may require some reconfiguration works within schools. To support this work, a once off enhanced minor works grant will paid to all primary schools by mid-August. There is a one off €75 million capital allocation to support schools to prepare their buildings and classrooms for reopening including an uplift for schools with SEN pupils.

In providing funding to schools in this way, schools will have the necessary flexibility to implement necessary physical measures in their school quickly in compliance with the Public Health Advice and the Roadmap.

Photo of Niamh SmythNiamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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43. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which third-level colleges will operate due to Covid-19; her views on whether the quality of degrees will be impacted; if fees will be reduced due to an increased element of online learning; if campus accommodation will be required; if there will be practical elements to courses; if clarity will be provided in relation to same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18474/20]

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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On 22nd July I published a three-pillar series of guides for returning to on-site learning in 2020/2021 which consisted of

-A high level Further and Higher Education Roadmap, which provides an overview of the phased return across further and higher education;

- A COVID-19 Adaptation framework which provides a structure, guidance and support for further and higher education institutions and providers and;

- Practical Guidance for Further and Higher Education for Returning to On-site Activity.

These documents can all be found online at the following link: .

The success of the return and operation of the sectors for the new academic year will be underpinned by financial support to respond to the costs incurred by the sector in relation to the pandemic and those that will arise to ensure the continuity and quality of teaching and learning in the sector and research in Higher Education.

Ultimately Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous institutions and are entitled to regulate their own academic affairs and administrative processes. Decisions on how courses and campus services will operate will be made by each institution, in line with public health advice, and arrangements will vary between institutions and between courses. The HEIs will communicate the arrangements for the new academic year to students as soon as these arrangements have been finalised. Questions on arrangements for a specific institution or course should be directed to the institution in question.

Whether students will require student accommodation will be dependent on their own individual circumstances and the format of their course. Student accommodation license terms including cost, duration, refund and cancellation policies should be set out in the license agreement signed at the beginning of the academic year. While I would hope that accommodation providers would show flexibility to students in the current circumstances, agreements between students and accommodation providers are a private matter, and neither I nor my Department have any remit to issue instructions in relation to the private rental market.  

In relation to  student fees, under my Department’s free fees schemes, the Exchequer provides funding toward the tuition fee costs of eligible undergraduate students with students paying the student contribution which stands at €3,000 since 2014/2015. It is important to recognise that the exchequer pays this contribution (or part of it) on behalf of almost 50% of eligible undergraduate students as part of the student support grant.

Where students do not meet the eligibility criteria of the Free Fees Initiative, for example full-time undergraduate students who do not qualify for the free tuition fees; fees for part-time undergraduates or; any post-graduate students, it is a matter for the higher education institution as an autonomous body to determine which fee rate is applicable for students. Any determination as to the level of fees to be charged is a matter for the institution in light of their own particular conditions and circumstances, and there are no current plans for the Department to provide advice in such matters.

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