Jonathan O'Brien
Question:53. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of resource teachers for Travellers employed during 2013-14; and the model under which they are allocated. [20483/14]
View answerWednesday, 7 May 2014
Questions (53)
Written answers
The principle of inclusion is at the core of the Report and Recommendations for a Traveller Education Strategy published in 2006 and, accordingly, the focus of both current and future provision is on the development of a more inclusive school environment. In keeping with this principle, additional resources provided in the education system are allocated on the basis of identified individual educational need rather than that of ethnic or cultural background.
I wish to advise the Deputy that a decision was taken by the previous Government as part of the December 2010 budgetary process that Traveller pupils who are eligible for learning support teaching should receive this tuition through the existing learning support provision in schools. This is in keeping with the policy of inclusion and the 2006 report. The General Allocation Model, which provides additional learning support and resource teaching allocations for primary schools, was updated for all primary schools from the 2012/13 school year and now includes the Traveller pupils who had previously been supported by Resource Teacher for Traveller (RTT) posts under the General Allocation Model.
Limited alleviation measures were put in place to assist schools who had high concentrations of Traveller pupils previously supported by Resource Teacher for Traveller posts/hours, in the context of the limited resources available. A total of 141 posts have been allocated to schools for this purpose. 81 posts were used to readjust Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) allocations to include Traveller pupils previously supported by Resource Teacher for Traveller posts. 38 alleviation posts were provided for schools that had high numbers or concentrations of Traveller pupils who were previously supported by RTT posts and a further 22 alleviation posts were allocated to schools who had the highest percentage of traveller pupils previously supported by RTT posts, in comparison to other schools, taking into account their overall pupil populations, and who had not qualified for the first round of alleviation posts.