Tony Gregory
Question:117 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Education and Science his views on the Breaking the Cycle programme; and his plans in this regard. [15759/03]
Written Answers. - Educational Programmes.
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 the aim of the project was 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 which includes extra staffing to allow for a maximum class size of 15:1 in all junior classes. The maximum class size in senior classes was 29:1 but this has been reduced to 27:1 from September 2002. For the 120 small rural schools shared teacher-co-ordinator supports and funding supports are also made available.
The five-year pilot phase of Breaking the Cycle ended on 30 June 2001 and all schools included in the project are now included in Giving Children An Even Break, an expanded programme providing additional supports in respect of disadvantaged pupils to over 2,300 primary schools. The schools in Breaking the Cycle have retained their existing entitlements under the former scheme.
In addition, the schools that were included in Breaking the Cycle pilot project may also qualify for additional resources under Giving Children An Even Break based on the level of concentration of pupils at risk.
Such concentrated and focused deployment of funds is intended not only to lead to more and more young people going on to complete second-level education, but also to make their experience of school more positive and worthwhile and so help to alleviate the problem of educational disadvantage.
Both Breaking the Cycle and Giving Children An Even Break will continue to be monitored to ensure that they are addressing the needs of the educationally disadvantaged pupils targeted and any programme modifications or future interventions in this area will take account of this monitoring.