Written Answers. - Education Schemes.
Seán Ryan
Question:
125
Mr. S. Ryan
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
the steps he intends to take to move towards the implementation of the objective set out in the recent ESRI report which recommends maximum class sizes of 15 pupils and said that ideally the figure should be below 12; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[26511/03]
Minister for Education and Science (Mr Dempsey)
Since my appointment as Minister for Education and Science, I have made it clear at every opportunity that addressing educational disadvantage is my top priority. It is my intention to ensure that available educational resources are targeted at the most disadvantaged people in the education system at all levels. My objective is to ensure that all young people leave the education system with a high quality education and related qualifications to support their full participation in society and in the economy.
My overall approach to tackling educational disadvantage is set in the context of the Government's National Action Plan Against Poverty and Social Exclusion, 2003-05, NAPSincl, and the latest social partnership agreement, Sustaining Progress, which contains a special initiative focused on literacy, numeracy and early school leavers.
I fully recognise the importance of early intervention as a means of preventing future educational disadvantage and, at pre-school level, my Department continues to support a number of early intervention programmes, including the Early Start project which caters for pupils aged three to four years who are most at risk in areas of social disadvantage.
My Department is providing a budget of €3.4 million over a three year period for the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, which was established in September 2001. The centre is charged with developing appropriate quality standards in relation to the wide range of issues affecting early childhood education, in pursuance of the objectives in the White Paper on early childhood education, Ready to Learn, published in 1999.
Work has begun on the development of a conceptual framework of early childhood learning and development that will include quality standards for early childhood education. The centre will also develop targeted interventions on a pilot basis for children who are educationally disadvantaged and for children with special needs.
It is envisaged that the recent OECD review of early childhood education and care, which will be published shortly, will also inform policy and programme development in this sector and will assist the work of the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education.
At primary school level, my Department has provided more than €70 million in 2003 for disadvantaged programmes such as the disadvantaged areas scheme, the home school liaison scheme and the Giving Children an Even Break, GCEB, initiative. Under GCEB, 2,350 participating schools benefit from a range of additional supports, including teacher posts and financial 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. Schools included in the GCEB programme and already in receipt of additional resources under the disadvantaged areas scheme, DAS, and-or the Breaking the Cycle pilot project, BTC, retain their entitlements under these schemes.
Other measures directed towards the support of primary school pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, include the book grant scheme and the school meals programme. The school completion programme and the National Educational Welfare Board, both of which operate at primary and post-primary levels, also play a crucial role in this regard.
In all this work I am advised by the statutory educational disadvantage committee set up under the Education Act 1998 on the policies and strategies to be adopted to identify and correct educational disadvantage. This committee, chaired by Professor Áine Hyland, brings together experts from across the community of education interests and is a very important resource for me in ensuring that real progress is made in this area. One of my key concerns is to improve the level of integration between the various educational disadvantage programmes operated by my Department. In this regard, I have requested the committee to undertake a root and branch review of all of the programmes in order to ensure optimum synergy and integration between them. The committee is engaged in this review.
