Written Answers. - School Enrolments.
Joe Higgins
Question:
306
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
if the number of students enrolled by the board of management of Carndonagh community school for the school year commencing September 1993 was 1,703 while the number registered in the official school registers used for roll taking and fire drills submitted to the Department by three board of management members was 1,588; and the cost to the Exchequer of the 115 unaccounted for students in terms of teachers, promotional posts, capitation and other grants over a one year period.
[5847/00]
Joe Higgins
Question:
307
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
the way in which his Department investigated the discrepancy between the official school registers used for roll taking and fire drills and the number notified to his Department in the number of students attending Carndonagh community school for the school year commencing in September 1993; the findings of this investigation; when it was concluded; and if the board of management of the school was informed.
[5848/00]
Joe Higgins
Question:
308
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
the reason his Department stated publicly that no rolls were kept in Carndonagh community school for the school year commencing September 1993 in spite of evidence that these rolls were kept for that year and every other year.
[5849/00]
Joe Higgins
Question:
309
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
if he will make available the list of pupils notified to his Department for attendance at the Carndonagh community school for October 1993 and all subsequent years which have been withheld from members of the board of management of the school.
[5850/00]
Joe Higgins
Question:
310
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
if the auditors of his Department were unable to conclude the audit of the canteen and tuck-shop accounts of Carndonagh community school, County Donegal.
[5851/00]
Joe Higgins
Question:
311
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
the regulations and guidelines under which the board of management of the Carndonagh community school have taken out a loan to meet debts; and if these guidelines and regulations have been observed at all times by the board of management.
[5852/00]
Joe Higgins
Question:
312
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
the findings of his Department's auditors in relation to the use of bank drafts in the payment of wages and expenses at Carndonagh community school, County Donegal.
[5853/00]
Joe Higgins
Question:
313
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
if Carndonagh community school has met all obligations with regard to deduction of PAYE and PRSI from its employees.
[5854/00]
Joe Higgins
Question:
314
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
if any moneys rightfully under the control of Carndonagh community school were held in non-resident accounts at any time since 1989.
[5855/00]
Joe Higgins
Question:
316
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
if 268 students were enrolled in Carndonagh community school for year one of the leaving certificate vocational programme in October 1997 and 178 students enrolled in year two in October 1998; if the number of students deemed eligible on 27 January 1999 by the management of Carndonagh community school to the regional co-ordinator of this programme was 108 students; the reason for this discrepancy; and the financial cost to the Exchequer of registering these students for the leaving certificate vocational programme as opposed to the ordinary leaving certificate for the period outlined.
[5857/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 306 to 314, inclusive, and No. 316 together.
Before addressing the issues raised by the Deputy, I feel it would be helpful to briefly set out some background information. Community schools are established under a deed of trust and managed by an 11-member board of management separate from my Department. The board comprises three representatives of the religious communities, three representatives of the vocational education committee, two parent and two teacher representatives. The principal teacher of the school is a non-voting member of the board of management. My Department is not represented on the board. Each board is responsible for the governance and direction of the school and for the procedures in place to inform board members concerning the affairs of the school. My Department provides guidance to boards in relation to school management generally and it also supports initiatives taken by the representative management body for boards – the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools – in this regard so as to ensure that best practice obtains. Where internal board difficulties arise, these fall to be dealt with by the board in the first instance.
Over recent years there has been a number of complaints and allegations concerning Carndonagh community school. These have centred in the main upon issues of financial accountability and the accuracy of returns of pupil enrolments submitted to my Department.
More recently, the Teachers Union of Ireland and the board of management of the school agreed with my Department that a facilitation-mediation process should be put in place as a means of making progress in relation to the matters in contention in the school. Both parties agreed to the appointment of a facilitator of considerable professional standing and reputation to undertake this task.
In his report the facilitator sought, as far as possible, to deal with issues of concern and grievance. In his conclusions the facilitator noted that full audits of the school by the Department's internal audit unit, as well as visits to the school by officials of the Department in relation to administrative and financial matters which followed the complaint, did not disclose any impropriety or inappropriate personal gain on anybody's part nor were there any specific allegations in that regard. In addition, although given the opportunity to do so, nobody has produced any evidence of misappropriation or other such offence. In this regard I should stress that it is my Department's approach that if evidence that a breach of criminal law took place is produced such evidence will be placed in the hands of the Garda. Similarly, if evidence is provided that there was impropriety in respect of taxation or related issues, our approach will be to place the matter in the hands of the Revenue Commissioners.
In relation to specific matters raised by the Deputy the position is as follows. My Department is prepared to make enrolment information for the period referred to by the Deputy available to the board of management.
My Department's auditors, as part of its audit of Carndonagh community school, examined and evaluated the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control systems in place in relation to the operation of the tuck shop-canteen area. The audit objectives were achieved and the findings and recommendations were outlined in detail in the audit reports. These reports were issued to the board of management and the principal. The recommendations contained therein have been accepted by the board.
Guidance is given to schools in the administrative and financial guidelines issued by my Department to all community and comprehensive schools. These guidelines include guidance in relation to borrowing. A copy of the guidelines can be made available to the Deputy if he so wishes. It is accepted by the board that there were shortcomings in the observation of these guidelines. However, the board now recognises its responsibility in this regard.
My Department's auditors also identified deficiencies in payroll procedures which included the use of bank drafts. While the Department considered that this practice was unsatisfactory, there was not at that time any specific prohibition on the use of bank drafts. This situation has now been addressed under the revised administrative and financial guidelines.
Certain shortcomings were identified in the deduction of PAYE and PRSI from employees' pay in the Department's audit report. Small errors of both under and over deduction were identified. On foot of this information the Department sanctioned the appointment of an independent accountant to examine the matter in greater detail. He confirmed the initial findings and established the definitive position in regard to each employee. He also made recommendations to the board designed to regularise deductions and to settle outstanding matters with the Revenue Commissioners. The board accepted these recommendations and acted accordingly.
In the course of the Department's audit it was identified that the school held an account in Derry. It was explained that this account was used for the purpose of making deposits of sterling coin which would not be accepted by local banks and that the account was also used to finance purchases in Northern Ireland for the school. This account has since been closed as part of a recommended restructuring of bank accounts following audit.
In 1997, with the approval of the leaving certificate vocational programme office, the school was permitted to place all year one leaving certificate pupils, 268 pupils, through the programme on the basis that the cross curricular approach would benefit all pupils and would ease timetabling. However, a large number of these pupils did not meet the programme eligibility criteria and were not included by the school in its October return for funding and teacher allocation purposes. The numbers returned by the school in this respect were 113 in year one in 1997 and 103 in year two in 1998 and funding was provided on this basis.
The position in relation to pupil numbers is that in March 1994 the principal notified the Department that, owing to inadequate checking, the return of pupils for that year was overstated by 35. Subsequently the Department was informed by three members of the board of management that pupil returns had been overstated for the years 1991-92 to 1994-95 inclusive. Lists of pupils were produced which indicated that numbers were overstated as follows: 1991-92, 49; 1992-93, 57; 1993-94, 115; and 1994-95, 71.
The Department's capacity to arrive at a definitive conclusion in relation to the issue of overstatement was hampered by the fact that the school did not fully comply with procedures for maintaining roll books prior to 1994-95. The Department recalled the school rolls for that year and compared them with pupil returns for 1994-95. This disclosed a discrepancy of two between the rolls and the returns for that year, as cor rected by the principal following his notification of the issue to the Department. This exercise also led the Department to conclude that listings supplied by the three board members could not be relied upon as accurate indicators of school numbers.
The Department also crosschecked pupil returns by the school with the listing of pupils who sat the junior certificate and leaving certificate examination for each of the years 1990-91 to 1993-94. During a visit to the school an official sought explanations for listings of pupils who were scheduled to sit examinations but who did not do so and he sought the school's opinion on the possible reason for an exceptional drop out rate. A listing of a total of 85 pupils who enrolled for the first year of the senior cycle in September 1993 but who did not return for the second year in 1994 was identified and the school's views on the possible reasons for it were sought. Having heard the views of the principal, the official concluded that, in the absence of comprehensive school pupil attendance records, there was no reliable way of establishing what the exact position in relation to student numbers was prior to 1994-95. The principal conceded that he could not stand over some of the names on the school records for the period.
The Department recognises that any overstatement of pupil numbers has resource implications arising from teaching posts and capitation. In regard to teaching and promotional posts the position is that teacher allocation for a second level school for a particular school year consists of approved ex-quota posts together with the allocation warranted by the enrolment in the school at the end of the preceding September on the basis of the current pupil teacher ratio. Prior to the implementation of the terms of the PCW agreement on teachers pay and conditions, the number and level of posts of responsibility were decided by the points rating of the school as determined by the number and ages of the pupils. Comprehensive and community school budgets are designed to cover normal school running costs apart from salaries of teachers and major capital expenditure which are paid directly by the Department. The level of the approved budget is decided by the Department based on factors which include enrolments.
Since the school year 1994-95 proper roll keeping procedures have been in place in Carndonagh community school. The facilitator considered this issue in the course of his report and concluded as follows:
An investigation by the official of the Department into the matter of pupil numbers established that these had been overstated. It was noted that the principal could not stand over some of the pupil details returned to the Department. There was no evidence, however, to suggest that the over statement was engineered to secure additional financial or teaching resources from the Department or for personal gain. Having examined the pupil records then being kept, the official was satisfied that proper pupil recording procedures had been put in place and that there would not be a recurrence of the problem. The matter should be allowed to rest there.
