Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 9 Oct 1996

Vol. 469 No. 6

Written Answers. - Disadvantaged Status Criteria.

Seán Power

Question:

141 Mr. Power asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the anger being felt by parents and teachers at Scoil Mhichil Naofa, Athy, County Kildare in view of the negative response to their application for disadvantaged status; the reason this school has lost a teacher; and the way in which this decision can be justified. [17937/96]

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

I am aware of the concerns of the school in question at its failure to secure disadvantaged status. In 1995, I asked the Combat Poverty Agency and the Education Research Centre to advise me on the criteria for identifying educational disadvantage. Among the key recommendations made to me were:

that a more targeted approach be adopted in the selection and support of disadvantaged pupils;

that dispersed pockets of disadvantage, particularly in rural areas, be targeted;

that disadvantage supports be limited to 16 per cent of the school-going population.

At present, it is estimated that 17 per cent of primary pupils are covered by the disadvantaged areas scheme.

In response to these recommendations, I recently launched a new initiative, Breaking the Cycle, aimed at breaking the cycle of disadvantage in selected urban and rural areas which have high concentrations of children who are at risk of not reaching their potential in the education system because of their socio-economic backgrounds.

The first phase of the initiative focused on schools in large urban areas which already have disadvantaged area status. The second phase focused on small/rural schools with fewer than five teachers.

Under the initiative, a new targeted programme of supports is being made available to 33 selected urban schools and 118 selected rural schools. All the schools which fell within the scope of this initiative were recently invited by the Education Research Centre to apply for inclusion in the scheme. The relative need of all applicants was assessed by the centre on the basis of data submitted by the schools under objective criteria which has been devised by the Education Research Centre. Unfortunately, based on the information available to my Department, the school referred to by the Deputy was not eligible to apply for inclusion under this initiative.

The staffing of a national school for a particular year is determined by the enrolment of the school on 30 September of the previous year. The enrolment of Scoil Mhichil Naofa on the 30 September 1995 was 544 pupils. This enrolment warrants the staffing of a principal and 17 assistant teachers for the 1996-97 school year. In the circumstances, the post of the 18th assistant has been suppressed.

In addition to the staffing mentioned, the school also has the services of a full-time remedial teacher, a shared remedial teacher, and two special additional assistant teachers.

Seán Power

Question:

142 Mr. Power asked the Minister for Education the criteria being used by her Department in deciding disadvantaged status for schools. [17938/96]

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

Traditionally, schools have been selected for support under the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme by reference to a range of socio-economic criteria which were agreed some years ago between my Department, schools management and the INTO. The criteria in question took into account such factors as the incidence of unemployment, medical card holding, and localauthority housing occupancy, among the parents of children attending the school.

Arising from studies carried out by the Combat Poverty Agency and the Education Research Centre, I recently launched an important new initiative aimed at breaking the cycle of education disadvantage in selected urban and rural areas.

Primary schools were selected for support under this new initiative by reference to new selection criteria. The criteria in question have been developed by the Education Research Centre and take on board the recommendations of the Combat Poverty Agency.

The following criteria are involved in the identification of educational disadvangage in both urban and rural settings:

long-term unemployment (one year or more) of the main breadwinner;

the family having a medical card;

living in a lone-parent household;

the educational level attained by the mother and by the father.

In the case of urban schools an additional criterion relating to the numbers of children who live in rented local authority accommodation has been used. In the case of small rural schools, an additional criterion relating to the numbers of children from families in receipt of assistance because of limited incomes from farming was used.