Vol. 494 No. 4
419 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Education and Science if the application for disadvantaged status by a school (details supplied) in County Kilkenny will be sanctioned in view of the fact that an assessment has been carried out by his Department. [18509/98]
In the current school year, of the total of 762 schools at second level, 190 schools have disadvantaged status. In designating these schools as disadvantaged regard was had to a range of criteria including the number of first year pupils whose parents are in receipt of unemployment assistance or benefit; the number living in rented local authority housing and non-permanent accommodation; the number living with lone parents; the number whose parents hold a medical card; the number with significant literacy and numeracy difficulties; the number of rural pupils from a deprived economic background and the percentage of pupils who drop out of school at or about 15 years of age without any formal educational qualifications.
I have no proposals at present for designating further schools as disadvantaged. However, I can assure the Deputy that the position of the school in question will receive full consideration in the context of any future review of this scheme.
