Brian O'Shea
Question:195 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will extend disadvantaged status to Portlaw national school, County Waterford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4543/00]
Written Answers. - Disadvantaged Status.
I am aware of the case made by the school in question for inclusion in the disadvantaged areas scheme.
The Taoiseach recently launched a major £194 million plan to tackle educational disadvantage at all levels. A key objective of this plan is to ensure that support services for disadvantaged pupils are properly targeted at those most in need.
Traditional approaches to addressing the problem of educational disadvantage have lacked the necessary flexibility to target individual and small groups of pupils suffering educational disadvantage. The system has tended to concentrate resources on schools with the highest concentrations of disadvantaged pupils, while failing to give adequate support to other schools with smaller but nonetheless serious pockets of disadvantage.
Under the New Deal – A Plan for Educational Opportunity it is intended that all primary schools, including the school to which the Deputy refers, will be surveyed to identify the precise distribution of disadvantaged pupils across the system. It is intended that this survey will be carried out during the current school term.
In response to the levels of disadvantage identified through the survey, additional supports will be made available to schools to meet the needs of their pupils. The level and nature of the support services made available will vary depending on the level of need identified.
I can assure the Deputy that it is my intention to attach particular priority to the issue of educational disadvantage and to ensure that an efficient and effective system of support for disadvantaged pupils is put in place by my Department.