Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

374. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the main initiatives that she has taken to tackle educational disadvantage since 27 June 2020; the additional funding provided in successive budgets; her plans for 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62204/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

During my time as Minister for Education I have shown a strong commitment to addressing educational disadvantage. My Department’s Statement of Strategy, sets out the vision and mission of the Department for an educational system where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential. It sets as a goal to ensure equity of opportunity in education and that all students are supported to fulfil their potential recognizes that equality of opportunity and inclusivity must be fundamental principles in our education system. The successful delivery of this goal means that our school system is open and welcoming for all students, regardless of background, and that in particular learners at risk of educational disadvantage will be supported to achieve their full potential. Since June 2020, and over that past three Budget’s I have secured funding to support measures aimed at achieving that goal.

Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) is the main policy initiative of my Department to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. In March this year I was glad to be able to announce a major expansion of the DEIS programme. This means that, for the first time since 2017, the programme has been significantly expanded to include an additional 322 schools. This means that the DEIS programme now supports over 240,000 students in over 1,200 schools addressing educational disadvantage. Schools were identified for inclusion in the programme through the refined DEIS identification model which is an objective, statistics based model. The extension of the DEIS programme follows an extensive body of work by the DEIS technical group to develop the refined DEIS identification model to identify the concentrated levels of disadvantage of schools. It also took into consideration the significant educational disadvantage experienced by Traveller and Roma learners and by students residing in direct provision or emergency homeless accommodation. This expansion will be supported by an additional €32million investment in the programme from 2023, increasing my Department’s overall spend on the DEIS programme to over €180million.

The extension of the DEIS programme followed on from an investment of €5m I secured for the programme in Budget 2021. This investment allowed for a 1 point improvement in the staffing schedule for Urban Band 1 schools, a reduced student threshold for the allocation of additional Deputy Principal posts in DEIS post-primary schools. It also provided for a 5% increase in funding for the School Completion Programme. I have again increased funding for this programme by a further 5% under Budget 2023, as part of an €8 million allocation to address the impacts of COVID-19 and increase retention rates of students in schools, especially those from groups at risk of educational disadvantage. In addition to this I secured a further €3 million in Budget 2023 will be provided for social inclusion measures, including enhancing the capacity of the education welfare services in Tusla that are now under the remit of the My Department.

While DEIS is the main policy initiative of my Department to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level, I have introduced many initiatives to further address the issue of educational disadvantage across all schools.

Under the Programme for Government there was a commitment to seek to make further progress in reducing the pupil teacher ratios in primary schools. Budget 2022 has implemented a further 1 point improvement in the primary schools staffing schedule for the 2022/23 school year meaning primary schools have been allocated teaching posts on an average basis of 1 classroom teacher for every 24 pupils since September 2022. Budget 2023 announced a further reduction in class sizes for primary schools to 23:1 resulting in an increase in the number of teaching staff in our schools. The 1 point improvement will also apply to the enhanced staffing schedule in place in the 306 DEIS Urban band 1 schools.

This Budget measure has brought the teacher allocation ratio in all primary schools to the lowest ever seen at primary level. This is the third successive Budget which has seen an improvement in allocation of teachers to primary schools.

Budget 2023 included the allocation of over €50 million to provide free books to primary school pupils within the free education scheme from September 2023. This measure will eliminate the cost to these families for all school books at primary school, including workbooks. It delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to extend the free school book pilot, currently in 102 DEIS primary schools, as resources permit. The free primary school books scheme will benefit up to 540,000 pupils in approximately 3,240 recognised primary schools, including over 130 special schools.

Over the period, my Department has led a range of projects targeting education disadvantage, funded under the annual Dormant Accounts Fund (DAF) action plans. These have included measures to build entrepreneurial skills, promote civic and social innovation in young people and provide education interventions for migrant students and Travellers, a numeracy skills enhancement project, in addition to targeted supports for 10 primary schools as part of Dublin's North East Inner City initiative.DAF funding provided over the period was €580,000 in 2020, €1.110m in 2021 and €1.625m in 2022. My Department has been allocated a record €3.8m in the 2023 DAF Action Plan, published last month, to support a range of measures tackling educational disadvantage.

As well as the above, a range of additional actions to improve Traveller education outcomes are currently underway:

- A pilot project, Supporting Traveller and Roma (STAR),which is underway in four areas with the aim of improving attendance, participation and school completion. An independent assessment of the project is due to commence this year;

- Work by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to support teaching and learning of Traveller history and culture, which follows the 2019 audit of the curriculum in respect of Traveller culture and history. A full-time Education Officer has been employed in the NCCA to advance this work;

- Creation of a new post in the Professional Development Service for Teachers, with a dual role in overseeing, developing and supporting CPD in diversity/social inclusion and in DEIS.

My Department provides funding for a number of projects in local drugs task force areas. The aim of these projects are to promote healthy choices and to prevent or reduce substance misuse. Funding provided over the period for these projects was €311,001 in 2020, €176,817 in 2021 and €192,729 in 2022.

In September 2021 my Department published guidelines for schools on the use of reduced school days. The purpose of these Guidelines is to provide clarity to school authorities and parents and guardians on the use of reduced school days and to ensure that this practice is limited to only those circumstances where it is deemed absolutely necessary. The Guidelines are effective from January 2022. An information note for parents has also been published.

Early this year my Department published a report on the Review of Out-of-School Education Provision. The out-of-school education sector relates to a small number of schools and education centres which operate outside of mainstream education provision. This review focused on the education provision in the State for learners under 16 years of age who have encountered difficulties staying in mainstream education. The review also makes recommendations to inform future policy to provide a sustainable option within the education system to further serve this group of learners.

Publication of the Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027 and the payment of €50 million in grant funding for digital technology infrastructure to all recognised primary and post-primary schools will also benefit students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This strategy advances the embedding of digital technologies across teaching, learning and assessment, building on the work under previous strategies. It aims to further support the school system so that all students across our schools have the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills they need to navigate an ever-evolving digital world successfully.

As Minister I have supported measures to address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on students at risk of educational disadvantage, providing a total package of support for enhanced educational programmes in the 2021/22 school year costing €102.6 million. The Summer Programme was extended to support children at risk educational disadvantage across all schools and the Covid Learning and Supports Scheme (CLASS) was introduced to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 to students’ learning and wellbeing. Budget 2023 also includes €20 million in additional funding for summer programmes in 2023 to support students at risk of educational disadvantage and help mitigate learning loss as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. This will bring the total provision for the Summer Programme in 2023 to €40 million.

Meeting the educational needs of children and young people from Ukraine is a priority for the Government, and my Department is determined to support the efforts of school communities across the country who have shown huge commitment and generosity. I announced the establishment of Regional Education and Language Teams (REALTs) to support the needs of Ukrainian children arriving in Ireland. These Education and Language Teams are hosted by the 16 regional education and training boards (ETBs) and are staffed by existing regionally-based education support personnel working closely together to ensure good coordination and alignment of supports for Ukrainian children. My Department is liaising with the teams to ensure all necessary supports for the Ukrainian children are provided as quickly as possible.