Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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761. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will establish a properly resourced taskforce to identify and implement measures that will support children and young persons in DEIS and non-DEIS schools to prevent further educational disadvantage as a result of Covid-19; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32966/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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DEIS – Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools is the main policy initiative of my Department to address educational disadvantage at school level.

The renewed DEIS Plan published in 2017 sets out the vision for future interventions in the critical area of educational disadvantage policy and builds on what has already been achieved by schools who have benefitted from the additional supports available under the initial DEIS programme introduced in 2005.

The identification of schools for inclusion in DEIS is based on the “multiplier effect” of concentrated levels of socio-economic disadvantage on the educational experience. The approach is grounded in international evidence and it is considered that it is the combination of the various interventions under DEIS that have enabled it to succeed. Recent endorsements for the approach include a 2018 OECD Report (“Equity in Education – breaking down barriers to social mobility”) which showed that educationally disadvantaged students do much better in schools where they are a minority, thereby demonstrating the importance of focusing support on concentrated numbers of students from areas of significant socio-economic disadvantage.

In the 2020/21 academic year there are 887 schools in the DEIS Programme serving over 185,000 pupils - 689 Primary and 198 Post Primary.

The total Department spend on DEIS per annum is over €125 million. Additional funding is provided from Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection for the School Meals Programme and from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for the School Completion Programme.

Responding to specific actions in the NTRIS and in DEIS Plan, a Pilot Programme to target attendance, participation and retention/school completion for Traveller and Roma pupils is established in four areas. Each area is allocated 4 additional staffing resources who are working together with parents, children and young people, schools, Traveller and Roma communities and service providers to remove the barriers impacting on Traveller and Roma children’s attendance, participation and retention in education.

The total Budget allocation of additional funding of €2 million in 2021, with a full year allocation of €5 million in 2022 provides for further supports to be allocated as part of the DEIS programme to those schools catering for the highest concentrations of educational disadvantage. My Department continues to support those schools most in need and I intend to engage with the relevant stakeholders as to how best to achieve this.

The provision of education for children with special needs is an ongoing priority for Government. The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and Special Needs Assistants are at unprecedented levels. My Department will spend approximately €2 Billion or over 20% of its total educational budget next year on making additional provision for children with special educational needs. The main supports this funding will provide for in 2021 are:

• Over 18,000 SNAs will be available for allocation to schools
• 13,765 special education teachers for allocation to mainstream primary and post primary schools
• an additional 235 special class teachers

• a webpage (gov.ie/backtoschool) with access to all information relating to the reopening of schools, including information about wellbeing, with links to specific resources, guidance and support
• Wellbeing Webinars for primary/special/post-primary schools - supporting wellbeing as schools return for first term
• Wellbeing Toolkits for Teachers with a range of easily downloadable, user-friendly materials
• Enhanced services for wellbeing provided by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), to include the wellbeing of all of our special school communities

Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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762. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will expand on existing measures to address digital poverty, ensuring all low-income households have access to online teaching and pre-printed resources if required during the academic year as a result of Covid-19 safety measures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32967/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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It remains the Government’s and my Department’s key objective for schools to remain open and to continue to operate as normally as possible. However, I recognise that despite the best efforts of all stakeholders, there will be situations where individual pupils or groups of pupils, teachers, or possibly entire school communities, are requested by Public Health HSE to self-isolate or restrict their movements because of a case or cases of Covid-19.

Schools are aware of the need to provide for continuity of schooling in those situations. The approach may involve the use of digital technology or other means such as hardcopy materials depending on the context of the school and the school community. Given the often rapid changes of requirements and various potential scenarios that living with Covid-19 entails, it is important that schools review and adapt their plans to address the eolving situation and as their experience of providing for continuity of learning increases. This is particularly important in the context of pupils with special educational needs, pupils at risk of educational disadvantage and pupils at risk of early school leaving.

Extensive guidance and supports have been and continue to be made available by my Department and its support services to support schools to plan for the transition to online and remote learning as the need arises and this guidance is all available at

The guidance includes links to a range of materials and supports developed by the Digital Technologies team of the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) such as learning platforms and online tools which can be used to support remote learning. Those resources continue to be available to schools.

My Department is also finalising a circular that will provide guidance and support to schools to put in place arrangements, building on the work already done by schools, to facilitate communication with and between staff, between staff and learners and to facilitate development of online approaches to remote and blended learning in the event that such is required.

My Department’s Inspectorate is also supporting school communities to provide effectively for the learning and progression of all learners during the first term of the 2020/21 school year.

In addition, as part of the implementation of the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 -Enhancing Teaching, Learning and Assessment,my Department has already provided €160m of grant aid to schools for ICT Infrastructure. This includes €50m that issued earlier this year. This ICT Grant funding issues directly to schools and schools are best placed to identify the requirements of their own student cohort and to meet those requirements in the most appropriate way. In the context of the current public health crisis this funding can be focussed on assisting schools to address ICT needs including devices, software and other ICT solutions to support the provision of remote learning. This can include the purchase of ICT devices that can be shared with students who do not have access to devices, essential learning platforms and other ICT infrastructure to support the provision of remote learning. An additional €50m will issue for the current school year and it is planned that the funding will issue before the end of this year.

The situation we find ourselves in is evolving all the time. My Department, in working with the whole of Government, will keep the situation under review and update any advices to schools as required. We will continue to work with all our stakeholders to ensure that schools, teachers and learners are supported and that together we continue to provide the best education for all our pupils/students while learning to live with restrictions under Covid-19.