Vol. 492 No. 1
262 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of initiatives at local level outside of the existing programmes aimed at the disadvantaged which the Department directly supports by additional teacher allocations or budgeting allocations; the estimated expenditure; and if he will classify the initiatives into differential categories. [13485/98]
My Department supports a range of projects outside the existing mainstream programmes targeted on disadvantaged areas. Under the breaking the cycle pilot programme a total of 33 urban and 123 rural schools in disadvantaged areas are targeted for special packages of staffing and funding supports to enable them to combat educational disadvantage in their areas. Total expenditure under this initiative in the current school year amounts to £710,000. The Early Start pre-school pilot programme is targeted at areas of particular disadvantage and under which a total of 40 pre-school projects have been established. The projects in question are capable of catering for up to 1,680 pre-school children. Total expenditure under this initiative in the current year amounts to approximately £1 million. Under the teaching counsellor scheme a total of 27 teaching counsellors have been allocated to 32 selected schools in disadvantaged areas of the north inner city and Clondalkin areas of Dublin. The cost of this initiative in the current year is £675,000. Homework and other after-school projects are targeted at supporting children in disadvantaged areas. A total of £145,000 was allocated to this area in 1997.
Projects involving theatrical workshops focus specifically on themes relevant to children from disadvantaged backgrounds and foster the involvement of the children in the productions in question. A total of £60,000 was allocated to this area in 1997.
I recently launched an important new initiative targeted at children from disadvantaged areas in the 8 to 15 age group who have dropped out of the education system or are in danger of doing so. The objective of this initiative is to identify and test strategies which will achieve the retention of pupils in the school system until certification. A total of £2.96 million is being made available for this initiative over the next two years.
My Department also operates a scheme whereby grants are paid to principal teachers of national schools to assist with the purchase of textbooks for children who come from needy homes. The allocation for this scheme in 1998 is £2,534,000. Allocations to individual schools under this scheme are dependent on the number of needy pupils within each school.
