Vol. 489 No. 1
28 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will establish a support team to assist schools in the handling of disruptive pupils which would provide the necessary psychological educational and guidance support and which would offer alternative temporary education settings as a bridge to better integration. [7464/98]
There is a range of special preventative and support schemes promoted by my Department to assist schools in making provision for disruptive pupils.
The teacher counsellor scheme was introduced on a pilot basis in 1995 in selected primary schools in the Inner City and Clondalkin-Tallaght areas of Dublin. Teacher counsellors assist in co-ordinating a whole school approach to devising and implementing good practice and strategies that will help to prevent disruptive behaviour. They also teach and counsel small groups and individuals who exhibit persistent behaviour difficulties in the classroom.
A detailed evaluation of the teacher counsellor scheme is under way and I expect to receive a report on the outcome of the evaluation before the end of the school year.
I have established a planning group to prepare proposals for a national education psychological service and I expect to receive this report in the near future. This service will be a further support for schools in providing for pupils who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties which result in disruptive behaviour. In the meantime, an additional 15 psychologists are being employed in the psychological service development project in the context of the demographic dividend, to extend the psychological service provided by my Department to primary schools. These new psychologists have already begun to take up their appointments and will participate in an induction programme over the next few months.
The report on discipline in schools commissioned by my Department and completed by Dr. Maeve Martin has been made available to every school.
The present allocation of learning support teachers, guidance counsellors and home school community liaison teachers continues to be a significant source of assistance for dealing with disruptive pupils.
I launched recently an important new EU funded initiative which is targeted at children in the 8-15 year age group who have dropped out of school or are at risk of dropping out. In addition, my Department is engaged in the preparation of draft legislation to deal with the complex issues involved in non-attendance at school.
