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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 27 Feb 2002

Vol. 549 No. 4

Written Answers. - Educational Disadvantage.

Róisín Shortall

Question:

300 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Science the staffing implications of the Giving Children an Even Break scheme; the way in which a senior national school with classes from second to sixth can arrange staffing; the way in which a school is expected to deal with a situation where there are two second classes, each with 19 pupils, when these pupils move into third class and thereby create a class of 38 pupils; if he will consider the allocation of a full concessionary teacher to a school (details supplied) in Dublin 9 which will face this problem in 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7029/02]

I launched the new programme, Giving Children An Even Break, in January 2001 to deal with educational disadvantage in primary schools. The schools targeted under the programme were identified through a comprehensive and objective survey of all primary schools carried out in March-April 2000 by the Educational Research Centre, Drumcondra, on my Department's behalf. There are separate urban and rural dimensions to the programme. Schools categorised as urban with the highest concentrations of at-risk pupils are being 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 second class – and a pupil-teacher ratio of 29:1 in senior classes – third through sixth classes.

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. Schools already in receipt of additional resources under the disadvantaged areas scheme, including the school in question, will retain their entitlements under that scheme.

Under the disadvantaged areas scheme, the school in question is benefiting from the services of a shared disadvantaged concessionary teacher and a shared home-school-community liaison teacher. The school also qualifies for special supplementary capitation funding at the rate of €38.09 per pupil and a refund of the television licence fee.

The school referred to by the Deputy is also included in the urban dimension of the new programme. The school is eligible to receive €3,230 in respect of the current school year towards providing additional educational supports for the children concerned. This funding is in addition to the €7,047 that the school received under the disadvantaged areas scheme for the current school year.

In line with normal staffing arrangements for national schools, teacher post allocations for the purpose of the new programme in respect of the current school year were determined by reference to enrolments in junior and senior classes on 30 September 2000. In order to enable the school in question to adhere to the maximum class size guidelines for all junior and senior classes in selected schools under the urban dimension of the new programme, the school's current compliment of one new programme teaching post, which was allocated for the 2000-01 school year, has been retained for the current school year. For the selected schools to adhere to the maximum class size guidelines under the new programme, it may necessitate the formation of classes from mixed standards.

The school referred to by the Deputy has been reminded that my Department allocates adequate staffing to schools to ensure that the maximum class size guidelines are implemented in both the junior and senior classes. If the school in question is unable to operate within the maximum class size guidelines, it may make a submission on the matter to my Department.
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