Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 13 Feb 2001

Vol. 530 No. 3

Written Answers. - Educational Disadvantage.

Richard Bruton

Question:

270 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a school (details supplied) in Dublin 3 can only fulfil the conditions in relation to class size of their cash grant under the new disadvantage scheme, by having mixed year classes in four of their six classes; and if he will allocate an extra teacher to the school. [3562/01]

Minister for Education and Science (Dr. Woods)

Schools participating in the new programme 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 school in question has been included in the urban dimension of the major new programme launched by me last month to address educational disadvantage. The school will receive supplementary grant aid of £3,867 towards providing additional educational supports for the children concerned. In relation to staffing, it was considered that the school in question has sufficient teaching staff already to implement the maximum class size guidelines of 20:1 in junior classes and 29:1 in senior classes set under the new pro gramme. This may necessitate the formation of classes from mixed standards. If the school is unable to operate within the maximum class size guidelines they may make a submission on the matter to my Department.