Andrew Doyle
Question:70. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Education and Skills if Ireland recognises PhDs from universities in each of the other 27 EU member states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38919/13]
View answerQuality and Qualifications Ireland Accreditation
Questions (70)
Written answers
It is a matter for individual employers, education institutions and professional recognition bodies to decide on whether they wish to recognise any academic qualifications from abroad. However, Ireland does have systems in place for assisting individuals in having their qualifications recognised.
The Qualifications Recognition Service at Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) represents Ireland in a worldwide network of centres concerned with sharing information on qualifications and education systems which is known as ENIC/NARIC (European National Information Centre/National Academic Recognition Information Centre). Qualifications Recognition also acts as the Irish NRP (National Reference Point) for vocational qualifications throughout Europe.
Ireland ratified the Lisbon Recognition Convention (LRC), under which the NARIC system was established, on 8 March 2004. It should be noted that the LRC is a Council of Europe initiative, rather than being based on the European Union, and has been ratified by approximately 50 countries including all of the EU Member States.
Qualifications Recognition uses the Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) as the basis for the recognition of foreign qualifications in Ireland and aims to compare a foreign award to a major award that is placed at a particular level on the NFQ. Qualifications Recognition aims to provide fair recognition for foreign qualifications through the implementation of LRC guidelines and best practices. Criteria used to assess comparability include the following where applicable and in no particular order: - Status of the awarding body in the country of origin- Access requirements- Progression opportunities- Purpose for which assessment is sought-Level on national Qualifications Framework- Referencing to over-arching Qualifications Frameworks - Learning outcomes- Credits/Volume of learning Since 2008, Qualifications Recognition has been presented with 14 applications for recognition of Doctoral Degrees (Ph. D.) from within the EU.
Special Educational Needs Service Provision
Questions (71)
Charlie McConalogue
Question:71. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department and the National Council for Special Education have any plans to investigate the needs and outcomes of children with Down syndrome in mainstream primary schools who do not receive resource hours; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38924/13]
View answerWritten answers
I wish to advise the Deputy that pupils with Down's Syndrome attending mainstream schools may receive additional teaching support in primary schools, either under the terms of the General Allocation Model (GAM) of teaching supports, if the pupil's educational psychological assessment places the pupil in the mild general learning disability/high incidence disability category, or through an allocation of individual additional resource teaching hours which are allocated by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), if the child is assessed as being within the low incidence category of special need, as defined by my Department's Circular Sp Ed 02/05.
Pupils with Down's Syndrome may therefore be allocated resources under the category of mild general learning disability, or under the categories of moderate general learning difficulty or Assessed Syndrome, in conjunction with another Low Incidence disability.
Regardless of the manner in which the resource hours are allocated to schools, resource teaching/learning support is available for pupils with Down's syndrome.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has a formal role under the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act, 2004 in advising me in relation to any matter relating to the education of children and others with disabilities.
My Department requested that the NCSE consider the issue of whether Down's Syndrome should be reclassified as a low incidence disability in all instances, regardless of assessed cognitive ability, in the context of its preparation of comprehensive advice on how the educational system supports children with special educational needs in schools.
The NCSE report on Supporting Children with Special Educational Needs in Schools has now been published and is available on the NCSE website www.ncse.ie. The report recommends that under the new resource allocation model proposed by the NCSE in its report, children should be allocated additional resources in line with their level of need, rather than by disability category.
The NCSE has recommended that in the short-term, pupils with Down's Syndrome who are in the Mild General Learning Disability (Mild GLD) category should continue to be supported by schools' Learning Support allocation in the same way as other pupils with a Mild GLD.
The NCSE policy advice did not recommend that an exception should be made for children with Down Syndrome who are in the Mild GLD range, over other children who are in the mild range and who also may have other co-morbid conditions.
However, the NCSE report states that it is confident that the introduction of a new allocation model will overcome the difficulty posed by all children with mild general learning disabilities, including children with Down's Syndrome, who have additional difficulties and who can be supported according to their level of need and in line with their learning plan process. In the meantime, schools are reminded that they can differentiate the level of learning support granted to ensure that available resources are used to support children in line with their needs.
I have requested the NCSE to immediately proceed to establish a Working Group in order to develop a proposal for consideration for a new Tailored Allocation Model, which is set out as one of the principal recommendations of the report.
Student Grant Scheme Eligibility
Questions (72)
Thomas P. Broughan
Question:72. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who qualified for a student maintenance grant for the academic year 2012/2013 who are progressing to further study this academic year but who do not qualify for a student maintenance grant due to changes to the qualifying income thresholds for applicants' families introduced in Budget 2013. [38926/13]
View answerWritten answers
The Deputy will appreciate that it is still very early stages in the application process for the academic year 2013-14 and as such these figures are not yet available.
These statistics will be collated from the existing 66 awarding authorities and also from SUSI and will be available in due course.
Bullying in Schools
Questions (73)
Terence Flanagan
Question:73. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the new charity BeatBullying Ireland and the success rate of the charity in tackling the issue of bullying in the UK; if he will agree to its pilot funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38935/13]
View answerWritten answers
My Department has received a proposal from BeatBullying (The BB Group) and this is currently being considered.