Vol. 537 No. 2
407 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Education and Science if, in view of the need at St. Fergal's junior national school in Bray, County Wicklow, he will ensure that it will qualify for assistance in staffing levels under the new programme for disadvantage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15844/01]
The Deputy is referring to the new programme, Giving Children An Even Break, which I launched in January to deal with educational disadvantage in primary schools. Schools participating in the programme are eligible to receive a range of additional supports, including teacher posts and financial 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.
There are separate urban and rural dimensions to the programme. Schools categorised as urban with the highest concentrations of at risk pupils will be supported, where necessary, over the three year period through staff allocations to implement a pupil teacher ratio of 20:1 in the junior classes – infants through to second class – and a pupil teacher ratio of 29:1 in senior classes – third through to sixth class.
The school referred to by the Deputy is included in the urban dimension of the new programme. The school will receive supplementary grant aid of £3,016 towards providing additional educational supports for the children concerned in respect of the current school year. The school was not considered eligible for additional teaching staff, based on the level of concentration of at risk pupils in the schools, as reflected in the Educational Research Centre survey outcome.
