Seán Crowe
Question:343 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Science his plans for co-ordinated provision of resources across schools, particularly Breaking the Cycle and Early Start for all designated disadvantaged schools. [5577/03]
Written Answers - Disadvantaged Status.
Dealing with educational disadvantage remains a key priority of this Government and my Department has introduced a range of key interventions and programmes in primary schools aimed directly at tackling the problem of educational disadvantage.
The Breaking the Cycle pilot project was launched in 1996 and seeks to discriminate positively in favour of primary schools in selected urban and rural areas which have high concentrations of children who are at risk of not reaching their potential in the education system because of their socio-economic backgrounds. When the project was launched there were 33 schools in the urban dimension and 123 schools in the rural dimension, however due to amalgamations and withdrawals there are now a total of 32 designated disadvantaged schools included in the urban dimension and 120 small rural schools in the rural dimension. The 32 schools in the urban dimension are benefiting from a targeted programme of teacher and funding supports being made available. For the 120 small rural schools shared teacher/co-ordinator supports and funding supports are also made available.
It has been found however that Breaking the Cycle similar to the disadvantaged areas scheme, does not take account of different levels of need. On this basis, a comprehensive survey of all primary schools was carried out by the Educational Research Centre in 2000, at the request of my Department. The purpose of the survey was to identify the level of concentration in each primary school of pupils with characteristics that are associated with educational disadvantage and early school leaving. The survey is the most comprehensive ever undertaken of the incidence of educational disadvantage in primary schools in Ireland and it provides a valuable basis for directing resources to the areas of greatest need.
The survey outcomes form the basis of the new disadvantage programme, Giving Children an Even Break, a major initiative which was launched in January 2001 to tackle educational disadvantage at primary level over a three year period. Under Giving Children an Even Break, my Department's approach is refined to ensure that the individual "at risk" pupils are targeted. Giving Children an Even Break subsumes the previous process of designation of schools that serve areas of educational disadvantage. In total over 2,300 schools are now participating in Giving Children An Even Break.
Giving Children an Even Break is a key component of my Department's strategy to discriminate positively in favour of children who are at risk of school failure or who are experiencing educational disadvantage. Schools in Giving Children an Even Break are in receipt of a range of additional supports including teacher posts and other non-teaching supports to be targeted at disadvantaged pupils. The additional supports provided reflect the level of concentration of pupils from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in each school invited to participate in the programme.
All schools included in the Breaking the Cycle pilot project and those that were previously designated as disadvantaged will retain the resources allocated to them under those programmes and may also qualify for additional resources under Giving Children An Even Break, based on the level of concentration of pupils at risk.
Both Breaking the Cycle and Giving Children An Even Break are being monitored to ensure that they are addressing the needs of the educationally disadvantaged pupils targeted and, where modifications are required, the necessary changes will be made to incorporate these. In addition Giving Children an Even Break will be subject to independent evaluation to ensure that the programme is meeting its objectives and to assist in its future development and the introduction of further interventions in this area. The early start pre-school pilot project is in place in 40 selected schools in designated areas of disadvantage. It is aimed at children who are considered to be most at risk of not reaching their educational potential and are aged between three and four years. Early Start units have been established in 40 schools and all of these schools are benefiting from additional resources to cater for the pre-school children attending.
The Deputy may be aware of the White Paper on Early Childhood Education, Ready to Learn, which sets out a comprehensive strategy for the development of early childhood education for all children from birth to six years. The question of developing and funding particular pre-school initiatives or the extension of the Early Start project to additional schools will be considered by the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, which I recently established.
Such concentrated and focused deployment of funds should not only lead to more and more young people staying on and completing second level education, but should also make their experience of school more positive and worthwhile and so help to alleviate the problem of educational disadvantage.