Vol. 842 No. 3
1. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the way he proposes to address the deep concerns that have been expressed with regard to the recently published Circular 0030/2014 on special needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23469/14]
2. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the changes he has made to the criteria for allocating special needs assistants have made it more difficult for children to access SNA help when they need it and if he will review these changes. [23451/14]
My question asks how the Minister proposes to address the deep concerns being expressed about the recently published circular on special needs.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
The purpose of Circular 0030/2014 is not to reduce the number of SNA posts in schools but to clarify the role and purpose of SNA support and ensure it is targeted at those pupils who need it. My officials consulted school management bodies prior to issuing the circular and are setting up further meetings with management bodies and parent representative groups to allay fears.
Last December the Government approved an extra 390 SNA posts for the period to the end of December 2014, which means that there are now almost 11,000 SNAs available to work with children who have an assessed care need in primary, post-primary and special schools. There are some 10,965 posts available for allocation, of which 10,656 SNA posts have been allocated, more than at any time previously. This means that rather than a reduction in the number of SNA posts, there is provision for a further 309 posts to be allocated to schools to the end of December. These extra posts will ensure the Government's policy of ensuring every child assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to support. Implementation of the circular should ensure children's care needs are better understood in order that SNAs can work more effectively to assist children.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply, but parents and teachers across the country have noted a squeezing of the SNA support available to students and are rightly concerned about the tone of the aforementioned circular from the Department. A number of specific points made in the circular are giving rise to concern among parents and teachers. It states that in order to receive SNA support, the care needs outlined must be of such significance that they are beyond what would normally be expected to be provided by way of support for a child by the class teacher or other school teachers or beyond the level of assistance which would be offered by other students or the student's fellow pupils. The idea that a departmental circular would put the responsibility on fellow pupils to cater for needs that up to now would have been catered for by SNAs is of great concern to many. At post-primary level, the circular states only students with chronic and serious care needs should need SNA support and that continued and ongoing access to SNA support is generally not desirable for post-primary students. The tone of this statement is deeply unsympathetic. I ask the Minister of State, in the context of the aforementioned points made in the circular which are causing real concern in terms of their implications for students who need support, to provide reassurance that this does not indicate a further squeeze on SNA hours.
The Deputy referred to the squeezing of SNA posts, but that is certainly not what is occurring. As I mentioned, we have the highest number of SNA posts allocated in the history of the State and there are 309 posts yet to be allocated between now and the end of the December.
I will outline why the circular was issued. In June 2011 the Department initiated a value for money review of the SNA scheme. In May 2013 the National Council for Special Education published its policy advice on supporting children with special educational needs in schools. Both reports concluded that the SNA scheme had been very successful in supporting the care needs of children with special needs in schools and assisting in their integration and inclusion. Ultimately, that is the function and role of the SNA - to assist in meeting the care needs of the young person who may initially find it challenging to operate in a school environment, particularly at primary level. However, I argue that it is the ambition of every parent and teacher of every child with special needs that ultimately the child achieve full independence and succeed to the best of his or her capacity while moving through the education system. That is ultimately what we are trying to achieve; we are not trying to frighten people. The criteria for the allocation of SNAs have not changed. When a young person needs SNA support, it will be available up until the point where he or she can operate independently. Ultimately, that is the ambition of parents and teachers in general when it comes to caring for children with special needs.
The reality for many parents is that this circular is very frightening because it has moved the goal posts. The Minister of State may not care to admit it, but it is going to make it more difficult for students who need SNA support to receive it. That is a fact. We have already seen cases in our constituency offices of children who previously had SNA support and who are now in the process of losing it because the goal posts have moved significantly. The new circular states a child must have a "profound" disability in order to qualify for SNA support. Much of the change comes on the back of the review about which the Minister of State spoke. One of the findings of the review was that many schools did not know what was the role or remit of SNAs. There is a lot of work to be done with schools in that regard. Schools must be educated on the role and remit of SNAs and how best to use them. However, that does not take away from the fact that many parents are extremely worried that children who currently receive SNA support are going to lose it because of the annual review.
I agree with the Deputy when he makes reference to the importance of clarifying the role of special needs assistants, SNAs, in schools. As I stated in my earlier reply, the Department's officials are at present engaging with school management bodies and parent representative groups to outline exactly this to them, as well as to allay any concerns or fears they might have that the recent circular will lead to a reduction in SNA numbers or allocations, because that is not the intention and certainly is not what will happen. It always has been standard practice that SNA allocations are reviewed annually. The circular acknowledges that pupils will have care needs that will remain constant and there are some disabilities which remain with the young person throughout his or her life. In the case of such young people, their care needs rarely evolve or improve. However, for very large numbers of other children, the exact opposite happens and with the support of an SNA and the classroom teacher, those care needs diminish over time, which is something that should be welcomed. The fact that SNA allocations are reviewed annually does not mean this will lead to a reduction in SNA support for individual pupils or for schools that have pupils who have continuing needs.
I stress that what is being done here is simply clarifying the role of the SNA and ensuring that where an SNA support is needed and where those resources need to be channelled to those who need it most, this will be done and is exactly what will happen. While I do not make this charge against the two Deputies opposite, I caution people against spreading fear among parents that this circular somehow will diminish the allocation of SNAs. That is not the intention and as I stated previously, the Government is increasing the number of posts by 309 before the end of this year. At the end of 2014, the number of SNAs allocated in the education system will be the highest since the SNA support system began.
In his earlier response, the Minister of State outlined that it is the ambition of every parent that his or her child will get to a position where he or she does not need any SNA support. Indeed, it is the hope of every parent at the outset that his or her child would not need such support in the first place. However, in cases where a child needs such support, it is the ambition of a parent to be able to have the reassurance that the child actually will receive it when it is needed. The important point here is that reassurance should be given that this service will be provided. However, in recent years, the experience on the ground has been quite different. In common with the other Members present, I am sure the Minister of State will have spoken to teachers and parents. When one visits a school, one of the biggest difficulties teachers will raise is the pressure on them in respect of SNA resources. While the number of SNAs has increased slightly, the Minister of State indicated there would be a further 300 this year, the actual demand last September alone, for example, increased by 10%. The number of SNA supports did not match that increase. In addition, there has been a similar increase in demand for resource teacher posts and as a result, the Government decided to try to reduce the resource teaching hours being allocated per student but subsequently made a U-turn in that regard. Similarly, the Government did not increase the number of SNAs. A difficulty also arises with regard to the increasing practice of special educational needs organisers, SENOs, giving shared access to an SNA at school level, after which the responsibility is left with the teachers and the school to try to manage that. This is exceptionally difficult and nearly impossible in many situations.
Thank you.
There are issues to be addressed in this regard and genuine concern is being expressed by schools.
We are over time, thank you.
There must be reassurance given that additional supports are provided in order that the pressure currently evident in schools can be relieved.
To pick up on the last point, the best people to ascertain whether a pupil needs an SNA are those who carry out the assessment. In carrying out that assessment, they indicate what resources and help a student may need. At present, SNAs are being allocated to schools and unfortunately, the number of SNAs that some schools have does not match the needs of their students and thereafter, a great onus is being left on school management to try to distribute those SNAs as best as possible. Does the Minister of State agree that if a SENO's assessment states that a child is in need of a particular resource such as, for example, an SNA or so many hours per week, this student should get that support and this should not be constrained by budgetary measures?
To clarify once again, the purpose of this circular was not to provide for or allow for a reduction in the number of SNAs allocated nationwide. That there will be almost 11,000 SNAs in place by the end of the year is testament to this fact. The purpose of the circular simply was to clarify the role of the SNA in the school setting. That role is to provide for the care needs of a young person who needs such support to be able to operate successfully in a school environment. In the past, perhaps, the role of the SNA somehow had expanded beyond that role and it was important to be able to clarify for parents, teachers and school communities as a whole what exactly that role required. It is not and never has been the intention to use this circular somehow to reduce the supports available to young children who are in need of those supports to be able to function successfully in a school environment. Ultimately, the professional decision that is taken on the allocation of SNAs rests with their SENOs, who work as agents of the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, at a local level. The SENOs engage with parents and teachers and conduct a professional assessment of whether a child requires that SNA support. They also carry out an ongoing review of each child's individual care needs as the child progresses through the school system. Consequently, if that SENO makes that recommendation, then yes, the child obviously will need, require and secure those kinds of supports. However, as a child goes through the system, his or her care needs over time evolve and hopefully will lessen. It is important to reflect this in the allocation of SNAs in order that those who are entering the school system, perhaps at junior infants for the first time, can have resources directed towards them in times when the resources available are very scarce.
3. Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether best practice has been used by his Department regarding the length of time a school (details supplied) has been waiting to be placed on a buildings project list; if he will acknowledge it is utterly unacceptable that this school has been waiting patiently for 29 years in prefabricated accommodation for permanent structures to be provided for its students; his views on whether the circa €1.8 million spent renting and maintaining these prefabricated structures represents value for taxpayers' money, especially when the estimated amount to construct permanent structures on this site would have been less than that figure; if he will acknowledge further that this school already owns its own site, has full planning permission for construction and is ready to proceed; if he also will acknowledge this school has waited longer than any other school in the country and should be on top of his list; if he will commit to adding this school to the current buildings project list without delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23539/14]
Since the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Quinn, came to office, I have raised repeatedly with them the case of Gaelscoil Philib Barún, Tramore. At 29 years, this Gaelscoil has waited longer than any other school in the country for a permanent building. The past 11 years have been spent in a site owned by the Department of Education and Skills in ageing prefabs, some owned by and others rented by the Department. To date, almost €2 million has been spent on temporary accommodation. Does the Minister of State agree this is an excessive waste of public funds and is money that could have been spent constructing a new school?
I wish to advise the Deputy that the Department's priority is to ensure that every child will have access to a physical school place. This can necessitate the use of temporary accommodation, as in the case of the school in question, until the Department is in a position to provide a permanent building. The delivery of major school projects required to meet demographic demand will be the main focus for capital investment in the coming years. The five-year plan announced by the Minister, Deputy Quinn, early in the lifetime of the Government prioritises new school building projects, as well as major extensions in areas where a demographic need has been established. Tramore, where the school is located, has not been identified by the Department as an area of significant demographic growth. A project for the school was not, therefore, included in that five-year plan.
The school's building project is at an advanced stage of architectural planning, that is, stage 2b. This stage 2b report is currently being reviewed by the Department. Following this review, the Department will contact the school authority regarding the potential, at that time, for further progression of the project in the context of available funding.
That was an extraordinary answer. The Department of Education and Skills has told the school's board of management that it is prioritising areas of demographic growth for new schools. The population of Tramore increased by 7% between 2006 and 2011, with 30% of the population classified as being of preschool and school-going age. Over the past decade, enrolments in Tramore increased by more than 500 pupils and if this does not constitute demographic growth, I do not know what does. Incidentally, last August this project was authorised to proceed to stage 2b, meaning all planning and statutory approval had been completed.
In a letter to me last September, the Minister commented that he made contact with the school about the potential for further progression of the project. Incidentally, we still are waiting for a reply. In the course of the Minister's visit to the school, he suggested that despite having a site ready with full planning permission in place, the school could be accommodated in a place called the Stella Maris building, which has been rejected by the school and parents. In October 2011, the Minister wrote to me to confirm that the project was on the original construction list but this never happened. I ask the Minister of State to tell the parents, children and teachers of the school why this is the case, based on what the Minister wrote to me and based on the information he gave to the school, the teachers and the families.
First, I should identify how the Department identifies areas that are undergoing significant demographic challenge.
It uses a combination of CSO data - the most recent census data - and data from the Department of Social Protection - children's allowance data - to generate a very accurate picture of what the demographic demand is now and what it will be in the next five to six years. Using that data, it has been concluded that Tramore, where the school is located, is not currently an area of significant demographic growth. That is hard verifiable data from the CSO and the Department of Social Protection, from which one is able to document every child living within a certain radius of that school.
The Department has a major challenge to face in terms of delivering school buildings over the next number of years and I am sure the Deputy is more than aware that enrolment in post-primary and primary schools is expected to grow by almost 70,000 by 2018 - more than 45,000 at primary level and 25,000 at post-primary level. That is a major challenge we face in terms of providing classroom space for those young people. The Minister has always expressed a fear that at some point we would arrive at a situation where children of school-going age would simply turn up at a school with no classroom space available for them.
Prefabricated classrooms are not the ideal environment for any school and we all wish we had the resources not to have to use prefabricated accommodation. However, for the moment, those young people in Tramore have a school and classrooms. They have quite a modern school environment, based on the fact that most of the investment was made over the past three or four years. As we say, when resources become available to us, we will be able to progress that project to a new school building at some point in the future.
It just goes to show how out of touch the Minister of State is that he does not know that part of the school building collapsed on children in February. Some 30 children had to be evacuated, many of whom were asthmatic. Was the Minister of State not aware that one of the prefabs had collapsed? In 2012, the Department promised to reinstate the school building project to a building list. Why has that not been done? I am not too sure if the Minister of State is aware of what is happening in his Department. He is not aware as to whether the school has been reinstated to the building list. Is he not aware that one of the prefabs collapsed and children had to be evacuated? That was on the national news.
The Minister of State needs to clarify his position on Gaelscoil Philib Barún. The Minister promised the school building project would be reinstated to the building list but the Minister of State said the opposite. I have shown the Minister of State where the demographics come into play with the number of children on the school list and the population growth in Tramore. Surely that warrants people not having to be educated in prefabricated buildings in a state of collapse.
To clarify, the Deputy made reference to the fact the school has somehow been removed from the school building list and needs to be reinstated. It is currently on a school building list. There are many other such projects in the same situation. There is, and there always has been, two separate building lists in operation. There is the five year capital programme announced by the Minister early in the lifetime of the Government to address that very significant demographic challenge in areas of increasing population and to cater for those 70,000 children coming into our system but alongside that, there is another list on which this school is included and where we are moving schools to a point where they are ready to move to construction. The Deputy is aware that the stage 2b report is currently being reviewed by my Department. Following that review, the Department will contact the school authority. There will be ongoing engagement with the school authority and it is not true to say it has somehow dropped off the radar or a list of priorities for the Department.
4. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he is taking to ensure that international students left stranded as a result of the recent closure of a number of international language schools can continue their education and be recompensed for the cost of discontinued courses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23470/14]
My colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills and the Minister for Justice and Equality have established a task force to urgently examine the issues raised by the closure of a number of private colleges. The task force is chaired by the two Departments and includes representatives from QQI, Enterprise Ireland and City of Dublin Education and Training Board as well as representatives of the private high-quality higher education and English language sectors and the Irish Council for International Students.
This group is charged with assessing the scale of the issue and, in particular, the number of genuine students who have not yet been accommodated. It will also determine what capacity is available in the sector to make accommodation for students and will oversee a system that seeks to make such accommodation.
The co-chairs of the task force have been asked to make an interim report by this Friday. For the sake of the students involved, it is important to be clear that their immigration permissions have been extended by the Department of Justice and Equality to allow them to continue to work to support themselves and to allow them space to make alternative arrangements.
The Government is also introducing a robust quality framework to ensure that only the highest quality providers can attract students from outside the EEA to Ireland. At the heart of this will be the international education mark, provided for in the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012 and which will be awarded by Quality and Qualifications Ireland. This mark will be introduced from the end of this year.
As the Minister of State knows, five private language schools have closed in the past month. Anyone who has met or listened to interviews with the students affected by the closure of those language schools will be in no doubt as to the distress faced by many very genuine language students. There were abuses in a number of cases but the reality is that many students who came to this country, specifically to be educated and to learn English, find themselves stranded as a result of these five colleges closing. There are serious questions in regard to how that can happen. I have no doubt the Minister of State is aware of the impact that could have on our international reputation and of the importance of getting to grips with this quickly and ensuring it cannot happen again.
Many of the students who have been left stranded are in financial difficulty because they paid money for those courses. What can be done to recompense those students so that they can continue a course? The Irish Council for International Students suggested the establishment of a pop-up English language school to try to ensure those students can continue to learn English and pursue their education.
I have great sympathy for those young people. For the majority of them, it is an alien environment. They have been left high and dry without any support or hope that they may be able to pursue the education they wish to pursue in this country.
This task force has all the participants one would require on such a task force to be able to address this issue and it was established with lightning speed by the Minister. It will issue an interim report this Friday but, in the meantime, it is working hard to ensure the students have their visas extended so they are not forced to leave the country and retain the right to work to support themselves while they await an outcome. We have been trying to accommodate those students in other English language schools which operate to far higher standards. It is important to point out that the colleges which closed were private businesses and they were not backed by the State financially or in terms of other learner protection. The Deputy is quite right that we need to be very concerned about how this impacts on Ireland's image abroad as a destination for international education. Ireland earns just under €1 billion per annum from international education and it is one of our most significant exports.
We have been working very closely with the education in Ireland unit in Enterprise Ireland, the QQI and my officials to provide for this quality mark, which is provided for in the legislation underpinning QQI. With the establishment of the quality mark it will not be possible for any institution to market itself abroad under the education in Ireland brand without having that quality mark assigned to it. It will be a mark parents, students, academics and teachers internationally can trust. If an institution operates under that mark, it will be operating to an exceptionally high standard where one can trust the content and quality of the education being delivered.
What sort of timeframe is the Minister of State putting on the introduction of that quality mark? We cannot have a situation where there is a question mark over existing colleges. Does the Minister of State believe there is a threat to any other colleges or a danger of other colleges closing down? What steps is the Minister taking to stand over the services currently being provided for students coming to this country?
The most urgent aspect relates to those students currently in distress and stranded. It is more than five weeks since some of those colleges closed down. I know the task force is in place but many students have been left in a very difficult situation. Urgent action is critical. The least we can do is to provide for their needs.
The Minister of State might also give his view on how this came to pass that we can have allowed this situation arise and so many students end up in big trouble as a result.
It is not alone an issue for Ireland. It is an issue across the world where private institutions, primarily English language schools, set up purporting to offer a high standard of education when, in fact, upon scrutiny they offer a poor standard and few supports for students who find themselves in that difficult situation.
The quality mark will be put in place by the end of this year. Education in Ireland has been working exceptionally hard over the past three years, and travelling abroad. Indeed, I have travelled abroad with them on a number of occasions with the third level institutions, colleges, universities and institutes of technology. Every time we travel abroad, we stress repeatedly the exceptionally high quality of the education being provided by the vast majority of institutions in this country.
At the end of this year, we will have a quality mark that we can stand over and under which an institution will have that credibility and build for itself a strong reputation for the provision of exceptionally high quality education. We will work to ensure that any young person who is contemplating coming to study in this country must protect himself or herself by ensuring he or she does not subscribe to or attend an institution or college that does not have that quality mark. I am confident we will be able to build that brand internationally so every educational support and opportunity that is offered to young people entering this country will be of that exceptionally high standard and that over time those who cannot operate to those high standards will simply be pushed out of business.
5. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views that the recently published Further Education and Training Strategy 2014-19 will neglect non-tech or non-business related further education. [23452/14]
I am confident that the recently launched five-year further education and training, FET, strategy, Ireland's first ever further education and training strategy, will provide the right balance between provision that has a primary focus on developing skills for the economy and courses that support core skills and personal development and are aimed at increasing equity, social inclusion and educational progression. There is a need to strike that balance. Of course, these latter programmes also assist learners on their journey to employment, and we should never try somehow to separate those two objectives. Of the programmes with an economic focus, investment priorities will be determined by good quality labour market intelligence that identifies sectors with skills requirements over time.
The strategy contains strategic goals, both on providing skills for the economy and on such active inclusion. All programmes, regardless of their focus, will be reviewed over the lifetime of the strategy. However, the strategy recommends, subject to overall budgetary constraints, sustaining the levels of funding relating to literacy and numeracy and adult education in the immediate term. That is the most immediate challenge that we face.
Therefore, I am not concerned that the FET strategy will neglect non-tech or non-business related further education in the future.
I welcome the Minister of State's comments because it is important that the strategy does not neglect non-tech and non-business related further education and training.
Having read the report, that balance seems to be more weighted towards those who are probably at an advanced personal development level and who are ready to upskill and get into high-tech jobs. I note that the strategy contains a number of initiatives for those who are not yet at that stage and whose further education and training is about enhancing their personal development. The local training initiatives, the specialist training providers and the community training centres all will play a key role in enhancing a person's personal development.
In the strategy, there are a number of elements. One of them is that the relationship with the business community is paramount to the success of the strategy. I wonder how that will work out on the ground. Will there be forums established to allow members of the FET to relate to the business sector? Is it individual providers and employer representative groups who will sit on those forums? If possible, I want to tease that out.
The strategy has identified five high-level goals. Goal number two is to support the active inclusion of those of all abilities in society with special reference to literacy and numeracy. I suppose the best analogy I can draw in terms of what the strategy is setting to achieve is that on the national framework for qualifications, NFQ, there are ten levels or, if one likes, ten different floors, and the lift needs to go to every floor. Every person who is on whatever level, from level one to level six, seven or eight, needs to be able to press the button and be assured that the lift arrives at his or her floor and allows him or her to access that NFQ at whatever point is appropriate for him or her.
I was fortunate to be able to engage with a significant number of learners in the run-up to the development of SOLAS and the strategy, and one of the overriding concerns of learners was that they needed to be able to access high quality educational opportunities in their community, home town or village. That is still very much at the heart of the strategy. That first engagement, that first support which people can find so difficult, will be supported and nurtured by SOLAS and the ETBs in future.
In terms of engagement with employers, it is exceptionally important that such engagement occurs so we can ensure the learning and training opportunities we are providing for people are up to date and respond directly to the needs of the employment market, right at this point in time and as it evolves over time as it is doing on a rapid basis.
As Deputy O'Brien will be aware, there are industry representatives on the board of SOLAS, but also there is provision in the legislation for similar representatives on the boards of the ETBs. Each education and training board, ETB, is currently determining how exactly it can provide for that engagement, but Deputy O'Brien's suggestion of a forum is worthwhile. In meeting some significant employers, I have already spoken to some CEOs who are going down that route. For example, in Galway city there are 8,000 employed in medical devices manufacturing who hold a significant key to the future success of that city and region and it would be reasonable to expect that they would have a role to play in determining the kinds of learning and training opportunities provided in that region. It will be done on a regional basis reflecting the needs of each individual region for which the ETB has responsibility.
I have two brief questions. In relation to the ETBs, because they are such a new entity, some ETBs may be more successful at creating those forums. I wonder what facility is there in place for the individual CEOs to take best practice from each ETB area and how that will be managed.
As to my other question, one of the points in the report, on page 19, on how we measure the success of the strategy, is:
Everybody who engages with FET, whether employed or unemployed or wishing to engage with FET for the purpose of learning, can access a high quality career guidance, counselling and labour marketing information service.
Will the Minister of State give us some more information on how that will be achieved in practice rather than in theory?
One of the benefits of the rationalisation, from 33 VECs to 16 ETBs, will be the opportunity for CEOs to share knowledge, experience and best practice. That sharing of best practice will be facilitated by SOLAS at national level. If we see examples of best practice occurring in any part of the country - I expect we will see it occurring in all parts of the country in terms of different kinds of provision and different kinds of training opportunities - it is the ambition of SOLAS to allow for that information and best practice to be shared across the system of 16 ETBs.
In terms of the engagement at local level, the primary engagement for the unemployed will be through their Intreo office. On approaching their Intreo office, they will be able to access two unique and distinct different kinds of advice: first, the advice from the Department of Social Protection as to what kind of social welfare supports are available for them while they find themselves in that difficult place of being unemployed; and second, expert guidance from staff from within the ETB as to what exactly are the job opportunities because there will be a forensic and ongoing analysis of job opportunities in each ETB region, and then guidance and advice as to how a person can access those opportunities. Those opportunities will be there. The provision of education and training in each region will reflect the skills demands in each region and will be up to date and responsive to the demands of the labour market at the time. There will be those opportunities and there will be guidance given as to how one can access those opportunities.
