Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 30 Jan 2001

Vol. 529 No. 1

Written Answers. - Disadvantaged Status.

Minister for Education and Science (Dr. Woods)

Schools participating in the new programme launched by me earlier this month are eligible to receive a range of additional supports to be targeted at disadvantaged pupils. The additional supports to be provided reflect the level of concentration of pupils from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in each school invited to participate in the programme.

The junior boys' school referred to by the Deputy and the associated junior girls' school are included in the urban dimension of the new programme. Both schools will receive supplementary grant aid as follows: £4,061 for the junior boys' school and £5,844 for the junior girls' school. In addition, the junior girls' school will benefit from the appointment of four additional teaching posts to enable it to implement a maximum class size of 20:1 in junior classes and 29:1 in senior classes.

To assist schools in making the best use of the extra resources now being provided, I am appointing a director of programmes to tackle disadvantage, assisted by a support team. This team will provide training in the understanding of educational disadvantage and the delivery of targeted supports.

Schools invited to participate in the new programme were identified through a survey of educational disadvantage in primary schools carried out by the Educational Research Centre for my Department last year. Where individual schools are concerned about the outcome of the survey in respect of their school, they may make a submission to my Department outlining their circumstances. These submissions will be referred to the ERC for consideration. The situation of these schools will then be considered further.