Vol. 442 No. 5
207 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Education the number of consultations/assessments of students undertaken by her Department's service for 1993 or the most recent year at primary and second level; the number which involved follow-up consultations with these students; and if this service has had any on-going consultations with any students with particular educational or social problems.
The latest period for which data is available is the school year 1992-1993. During that school year 432 individual assessments of pupils in primary schools were carried out by psychologists employed by my Department. These assessments were carried out in schools in two areas where a psychological service to primary schools is provided, West Tallaght-Clondalkin and South Tipperary.
In the case of post-primary schools the number of individual assessments carried out in 1992-93 by psychologists employed by my Department, in post-primary schools throughout the country, was 1,279. The total number of individual psychological assessments carried out by the psychological service of my Department during the school year 1992-93 was 1,711.
Consultation with referring teachers took place both before and after the assessments. It is usual for one or other, or both, parent(s) or a guardian to avail of the opportunity to consult with the psychologist after the assessment. All individual assessments involve a follow-up on the assessment carried out and the ongoing contact between the psychologist and schools involves follow-up on students assessed.
In the case of a small number of pupils there may be further review and assessment as time goes on, but accurate data covering both primary and post-primary levels is not available on this matter. In the case of the service being developed at primary level a system of periodic full-scale review is being introduced and of the 432 assessed in 1992-93, 60 cases consisted of such a review of pupils assessed during the previous school year. The number of such reviews is increasing continuously as the service develops at primary level.
