Written Answers Nos. 343-363
343. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a four day Saorview course can be accredited with a Fetac level 5 qualification; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48145/12]
View answerI am informed by FETAC that they do not offer an award which would be referred to as a Saorview award, although it is possible that providers could refer to Saorview in promoting programmes of education and training leading to a particular FETAC award.
Regarding the duration of the programme, providers design and deliver programmes which are relevant to the profile of the learner group concerned and which are intended to lead to the learning outcomes associated with the particular award. Therefore programmes of very different length can lead to awards which are placed at the same level of the National Framework of Qualifications, depending on the existing knowledge, skill and competence of the learners and the breadth of knowledge which is required to receive the award. So, for example, both an Honours Bachelor Degree programme with a duration of 4 years and a Higher Diploma programme with a duration of 1 year can lead to awards at Level 8 of the Framework.
344. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review the issue where a school bus has to collect 14 students to take them home and then return for the remaining six students waiting on the side of a regional road, unsupervised, for the bus to return (details supplied). [48154/12]
View answerBus Éireann operates the school transport service on behalf of my Department. Routes are planned in such a way to ensure that, as far as possible, eligible pupils have a reasonable standard of service with regard to pick-up points and travel and waiting times, while at the same time ensuring that school transport vehicles are fully utilised in the most efficient and cost effective manner.
My Department has been advised that the transport service referred to by the Deputy, in the details supplied, is operating within the guidelines of the school transport scheme. The school bus operates a double trip both morning and evening to accommodate the number of pupils offering for transport. The first trip in the afternoon carries pupils who reside south of the school and the second trip carries pupils who reside to the north of the school.
Double trips are a feature of the school transport scheme as operated throughout the country.
345. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the number of teachers working in the education system who hold a BCBA or BCaBA qualification. [48167/12]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that my Department does not maintain records of the number of teachers who have obtained the qualifications to which he refers.
346. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the number of persons employed on the SESS Advisors Behaviour Team and the number of those advisors who hold a BCBA qualification. [48168/12]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware of the brief of the Special Education Support Service (SESS) in relation to the provision of continuing professional development (CPD) and support for teachers in the area of special educational needs in the learning and teaching context. Currently, there are eighteen full-time members on the SESS team together with one part-time specialist adviser.
The SESS has a number of teams involved in the provision of CPD and support to teachers of students with challenging behaviour; the Challenging Behaviour Team, the Autism Team and the Contemporary Applied Behaviour Analysis Team. Thirteen members of the SESS are directly involved in these teams. I am satisfied that the SESS are making appropriate provision to support teachers and schools in this area. One SESS team member holds a BCBA qualification with three others currently working towards obtaining this specific qualification.
347. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he confirm that his officials received a submission from a person (details supplied) detailing a peer-reviewed academic study from Howard et al (2005) which demonstrated that for some children with autism, ABA has proven to be more effective than the implementation of an eclectic intervention. [48169/12]
View answerMy Department's policy is to provide for children with special educational needs, including those children with autism, in a range of settings within the existing network of special schools, special classes in mainstream schools and mainstream classes. The principal considerations underpinning this policy are the needs of the child and how to meet those needs with the minimum of segregation and maximum participation with peers, that is, in the least restrictive environment.
The practice and policy is to provide schools for children. It is not to provide schools for particular approaches, into which children will be fitted. Rather it is to identify children's needs and meet those needs in the existing school setting that is appropriate for meeting them. In the case of children with autism, this will be in the least restrictive environment, with trained teachers who have access to additional professional support, additional training in teaching children with special educational needs and in autism studies, and training in the principal approaches that are used in working with children with a diagnosis of autism.
The position is that each child's identified needs should determine the teaching approach and methodology that is to be used. As children differ significantly from one another and as children's needs vary and change over time, it is not possible to impose a method or approach that will work for all children with autism. The research evidence is clear that no matter what exclusive approach is followed, its success is limited. No one approach has a monopoly on success. Different approaches have been applied successfully with different children, and each approach has been shown to have limitations. This is why my Department does not establish schools to follow a particular approach including, Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA).
The policy is based on advice received from national and international experts on autism as well as the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) as well as my Department's Inspectorate. My Department has considered published research, including the Report of the Task Force on Autism (2001) and the Evaluation of Educational Provision for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (2006), both of which are available on my Department's website. The report of the Taskforce includes a comprehensive list of contributions. My Department was also mindful of contributions of many others experts at international conferences/visits.
My Department's position is reflective that there is no universal agreement that conclusive research exists to support the exclusive usage of ABA or indeed, the exclusive use of any other approach, as a basis for national educational provision for children with autism. It is for this reason that my Department's preferred policy is for a child centred, rather than a method-centred, approach where the approach to be taken is based on the individual child's needs. The person referred to by the Deputy submitted, on request, a number of contributions to my Department.
348. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to the proposed junior certificate assessment by teachers, if he any procedures have been put in place to ensure teachers are not assessing pupils who are their own children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48172/12]
View answerThe revised assessment proposals rely on the professionalism of teachers. Principals and teachers will receive comprehensive professional development in educational assessment, including processes of moderation, and providing feedback to students. Assessment arrangements in schools will be subject to internal moderation to ensure that proper procedures are followed in all cases. Principals will have to formally confirm that moderation procedures were followed. Final assessment at the end of the three years is just one element of a broader school based approach to assessment.
The NCCA is developing an assessment and moderation toolkit which will provide teachers with assessment materials for classroom use, and will support the design of class and school assessment. It will also offer guidelines on in-school moderation, and show how professional dialogue between teachers in a school (and, where a teacher is the only teacher of a subject, between schools) can ensure that there is a shared and common understanding of the standards of work expected. The new forms of assessment will be phased in over eight years to give schools, students and parents the opportunity to gain confidence in and have an understanding of the new assessment system.
The results awarded on every School Certificate will be sent to my Department. My Department will monitor the national and school patterns along with the results in the standardised testing of reading, Mathematics and Science. This monitoring will provide further quality assurance and identify any local or national anomalies. A report on overall trends will be published regularly. I am confident that these arrangements are robust for all contexts, including where teachers may be assessing their own children, given the low stakes nature of the assessment envisaged in the new Framework for Junior Cycle.
349. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills when he expects to have a contract awarded for the construction of an extension to a primary school (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will provide an estimate of when the project is likely to commence and be completed by. [48185/12]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware from my previous correspondence to him in June 2012 that my Department in consultation with the Design Team and school authorities agreed to re-tender the project to which he refers. Subject to no issues arising, it is anticipated that the project will progress to construction in Quarter 2 of 2013.
350. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the action being taken to cater for the provision of Church of Ireland schools, taking into account the absence of any secondary schools with a Protestant ethos being provided in County Kerry. [48211/12]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, in June 2011, I announced that 20 new post-primary schools are to be established in the coming years across a number of locations to meet significantly increasing demographics in those areas. This announcement did not include a proposal to establish a new post-primary school in County Kerry. The Forward Planning Section of my Department will continue to analyse demographic trends to determine the level of additional school provision which will be required into the future. Overall school requirements in County Kerry will be fully considered in this context. If the demographics require the establishment of a school, then the process for the selection of the type of school should allow for different patrons/bodies to be considered as the patron of a new school.
351. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address the issue of the unsafe and substandard prefab accommodation in a school (details supplied) in County Dublin in view of the further deterioration and leaking as reported to his Department in October, by sanctioning a permanent extension to the school as part of the building programme or a devolved grant, as the only viable and cost effective solution to these ongoing problems. [48228/12]
View answerI can confirm that the school referred to by the Deputy has an application with the Department for a major school project involving school refurbishment and the replacement of temporary accommodation. Information in respect of the current school building programme along with all assessed applications for major capital works, including this project, is available on the Department's website at www.education.ie.
The temporary accommodation, referred to by the Deputy, was considered to be in good condition and well maintained when acquired by my Department in December 2010. In the period since the purchase, my Department has been advised by the school of issues with the accommodation, which my Department have addressed. The Department will continue to liaise with the school with regard to any issues identified and seek appropriate remedial action where necessary. The Deputy will appreciate, that in view of the financial constraints imposed by the need, as outlined in the Five Year Plan, to prioritise available funding for the provision of essential school accommodation to meet demographic demand, it is not possible to indicate at this point when a further project for the school in question will be progressed.
352. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position of a secondary school (details supplied) in County Mayo on his Departments school building list; if he will outline the next steps for the school in view of the fact that the schools whole school evaluation has highlighted a number of school building concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48230/12]
View answerThe proposed building project referred to by the Deputy is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning. Due to competing demands on my Department's capital budget, imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet those increasing demographic requirements, it was not possible to include this project in the five year construction programme announced earlier this year.
353. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills when persons (details supplied) in County Donegal may expect their applications for a higher education grant be processed. [48235/12]
View answerIn relation to the first named candidate officials in my Department have confirmed with SUSI that the application of the student referred to by the Deputy is currently awaiting review and the student will shortly be notified of the outcome.
In relation to the second named candidate officials in my Department have confirmed with SUSI that on the 1st November a letter issued to the student referred to by the Deputy requesting outstanding documentation. When the documentation is returned to SUSI the student will be notified directly of the outcome.
354. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason Leaving Certificate students sitting the honours maths paper in the Leaving Certificate in June 2013 are at unfair disadvantage as they are unable to source exam questions and material for the new revised project maths that is fully implemented for the 2013 Leaving Certificate honours maths paper and if he will expedite an answer. [48285/12]
View answerThe State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. In view of the above, I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.
355. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education and Skills if schools with more than 20% of pupils requiring English as an additional language support are automatically entitled to an English as an additional language teacher; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48290/12]
View answer356. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number or percentage of pupils who require English as an additional language support that are required in a primary school to qualify a school for a full time English as an additional language teacher; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48291/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 355 and 356 together.
Circular 0007/2012, which is available on my Department website sets out the criteria for staffing allocations for schools including those for pupils that require language support for the current school year. Under the teacher allocation reforms the combined resources available for GAM (General Allocation Model) and language support (circa 4,100 posts) were used to create a single simplified allocation process to cover both the GAM and language support. Schools have autonomy on how to deploy the resource between language support and learning support depending on their specific needs. The new GAM arrangements also provided for additional permanent teaching posts (circa 370) to be given to schools with high concentration of pupils that require language support. Further additional temporary EAL support are also provided, as necessary, to schools that have high concentrations of pupils (at least 20% of total enrolment) that require language support in the 2012/13 school. These allocations are made on the basis of appeals by any of these schools to the Staffing Appeals Board.
357. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will clarify comments made by the National Council for Special Educational Needs in recent days in which it claimed that the hiring of 10,300 special needs assistants this year, instead of the 10,575 which were budgeted to be hired, was due to a lack of demand, if this position will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48303/12]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports including SNA support, to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of such supports and the staffing resources available to my Department.
There are 10,575 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) SNA posts available for allocation in the 2012/13 school year, which is the same number of posts which were available for allocation for the 2011/12 school year. The NCSE initially allocated 10,311 WTE SNA posts to schools based on the number of valid applications received to date and the extent of the care needs of qualifying children. The remaining 264 posts are available for allocation throughout the school year for new assessments of disability, new entrants, or emergency or late applications, in accordance with the terms of the SNA scheme. The NCSE have estimated that based on the experience of last year, that these 264 posts should be sufficient to meet demand during the school year.
Every child who has met the criteria for access to Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support in the current school year to date is in receipt of support. In respect of new applications, the NCSE has capacity to allocate additional SNA posts throughout the school year, and will do so where valid applications are received. Where schools have enrolled new pupils with special educational needs who were not considered at the time that the initial allocations for the 2012/13 school year were made, or where schools are in a position to demonstrate that they cannot cater for the care needs of qualifying children from the level of SNA support which has been assigned to them, they may apply to the NCSE for additional SNA support or for a review of their SNA allocation.
Finally, I wish to confirm for the Deputy that this Government remains committed to protecting services for children with special educational needs. The number of SNA posts available for allocation to schools for the 2012/13 school year has been maintained, at a time when there has been a requirement to make savings across a range of expenditure areas.
358. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding fee paying schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48306/12]
View answerThe correspondence referred to by the Deputy concerns the arrangement whereby the salaries of teachers employed within the approved annual staffing allocation for fee charging schools by my Department, are paid by the State; an arrangement that pre-dates the introduction of the Free Education scheme and which exists since the foundation of the State. The estimated cost of these posts is in the order of €100m. This Government recognises the importance of ensuring that students from a Protestant or reformed church background can attend a school that reflects their denominational ethos while at the same time ensuring that funding arrangements are in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
With regard to the fee-charging Protestant schools, an arrangement exists whereby funding is provided by my Department to the Secondary Education Committee (SEC), an organisation run by the churches involved in managing the Protestant secondary schools. The SEC then disburses funds to the Protestant fee-charging schools on behalf of pupils who would otherwise have difficulty with the cost of fees and who, in the absence of such financial support, would be unable to attend a second level school of a reformed church or Protestant ethos. Funding amounts to €6.5 million annually. This fund ensures that necessitous Protestant children can attend a school of their choice.
The Deputy will be aware that I announced a review last December, in the context of the Budget 2012, where I made a further one point change to the staffing allocation of fee charging schools. I indicated at the time that that the purpose of the review would be to inform future policy in relation to exchequer support for these schools. The review will be included in the material used to inform Government deliberations on the next budget.
I would like to make it clear that there has been no decision relating to fee paying schools and any budget adjustments for this year. Given the extremely difficult economic circumstances that this country is facing and the fact that every Department has to find considerable cost-savings, all expenditure must be examined to see if cost-savings can be found. I wish to reiterate that no decisions in relation to the upcoming Budget have been made.
359. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the provision of a second level school for the town of Kinnegad, County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48309/12]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, in June 2011, I announced that 20 new post-primary schools are to be established in the coming years across a number of locations to meet significantly increasing demographics in those areas. This announcement did not include a proposal to establish a new post-primary school in the area referred to by the Deputy. The Forward Planning Section of my Department will continue to analyse demographic trends to determine the level of additional school provision which will be required into the future. Overall school requirements in the area referred to by the Deputy will be fully considered in this context.
360. Deputy Dara Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the institutions under the remit of his Department that have full-time, permanent staff with contract of indefinite duration without a pay scale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48313/12]
View answerI understand that the deputy is referring to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) only in this question.
The position is that HEIs are autonomous institutions and it is a matter for the individual institutions to manage staffing and recruitment subject to compliance with the Employment Control Framework which limits the overall numbers employed in the sector. Under the terms of the ECF the HEIs are required to report wholetime equivalent permanent and temporary staff numbers on a quarterly basis. The particular information requested on those employed in the HEIs on contracts of indefinite duration is not available.
361. Deputy Anthony Lawlor asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a school building application by a school (details supplied) in County Kildare; his views on whether it would be more beneficial for the students and teachers at the school to incorporate the replacement of prefabs with a permanent structure and the upgrading of classrooms into one project as opposed to two separate projects which is currently being proposed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48314/12]
View answerI wish to confirm for the Deputy that my Department has received an application from the school to which he refers for capital works to provide an extension. My Department is currently in the process of acquiring additional land for school purposes in the area which can also facilitate an extension at the school in question in due course. This acquisition is at an advanced stage. However, due to commercial sensitivities associated with site acquisitions generally, I am not in a position to comment further at this time. Earlier this year, the school was invited to partake in the Prefab Replacement Initiative which includes replacing the school's existing prefabs with a permanent structure. However, for various reasons, the school has indicated that it is unable to participate in this initiative. The Deputy will appreciate, that in view of the financial constraints imposed by the need, as outlined in the Five Year Plan, to prioritise available funding for the provision of essential school accommodation to meet demographic demand, it is not possible to indicate at this point when a further project for the school in question will be progressed.
362. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will allow a primary school (details supplied) in County Mayo to spend money raised for a new school building project on a renovation of the present school building; if his Department will make matching funding available to the school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48317/12]
View answerThe major school building project referred to by the Depury is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning. It is a matter for the school authority to expend its own funds as it sees fit. However, due to competing demands on my Department's capital budget, imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements it was not possible to include this project in the five year construction programme.
