Written Answers Nos. 123 - 130
123. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding resource teaching hours for children with Down's syndrome who have a mild general learning disability; and if she will urgently put resources in place to ensure that children with Down's syndrome who have a mild general learning disability will receive the same resource teaching as pupils with a moderate general learning disability. [8837/15]
View answerUnder the existing allocation system, all pupils with Down's syndrome, including pupils with mild general learning difficulties, are entitled to receive additional teaching support.
Support is provided from a school's General Allocation Model (GAM) hours, or from an allocation of additional resource teacher hours allocated to schools by the NCSE.
In the current school year my Department has allocated approximately 4950 learning support/resource teachers through general allocation, while the NCSE has allocated over 6200 resource teachers.
I am aware that some parents, and Down's syndrome representative organisations, have concerns that the existing system does not give them certainty as to the support that their children will receive under the GAM, as these hours are distributed locally by schools.
I recently met with Down's Syndrome Ireland, and some parents of children with Down syndrome to discuss their concerns in this regard. I am meeting with more parents this week.
I will consider and review the issues which have been raised and will keep the House informed of my developing views on this matter.
124. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the current procedure for schools that have concerns regarding pupils in need of psychological services and referral to child and adolescent mental health services. [8808/15]
View answerMy department has provided guidelines to post-primary, and more recently to primary schools, offering practical assistance and advice on the development of structures to promote positive mental health in schools and in assisting pupils with mental health difficulties.
The guidelines advise that in the event of pupils presenting with mental health difficulties which are above and beyond the school's capacity and ability to support, school authorities should identify and access the referral pathways for the various primary and secondary healthcare services in their particular area. My Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) is available to advise schools on the matter.
Referrals should, of course, be undertaken with Parental or Guardian consent and collaboration, except in an exceptional situation where there may be child protection issues.
In normal circumstances referral to Clinical Psychology Services and to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) is made through the student's G.P.
125. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the apprenticeship Bill; if she is reviewing the educational content that currently exists for apprentices in this Bill; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8734/15]
View answerFollowing on from the Apprenticeship Review, an Apprenticeship Implementation Plan was published last year. The Implementation Plan sets out a phased approach, recognising the need to progress work on existing apprenticeships, determine demand from new enterprise sectors through a call for proposals, develop the new apprenticeships and then embed new governance arrangements in legislation. Curricular content is not covered in current apprenticeship legislation and it is not envisaged that this would change.
Work on the Heads on the Apprenticeship Bill has not yet begun, as it needs to be informed by the work of the Apprenticeship Council in progressing the call for proposals and developing new apprenticeships. A review of 5 of the existing apprenticeship trades has recently been completed and new curricula are scheduled to be rolled out later this year. Accelerated arrangements for reviewing the remaining trades have been agreed between QQI and SOLAS.
126. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans for student accommodation; her discussions with third level institutions on the issue of student accommodation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8832/15]
View answerThe HEA are currently working on a draft report on student accommodation which will be available in early April and will give us an up to date picture of the situation.
Some institutions provide a range of accommodation, and all colleges have an obligation to work with students' unions and other groups, to provide students with details on accommodation options.
Initiatives such as USI's 'Homes for Study' are of help to students and list suitable accommodation available to rent across Ireland.
I will continue to work with stakeholders to explore ways to increase the availability of student accommodation.
In the longer term, the Government is committed to addressing the housing shortage through the Construction 2020 strategy. This will not resolve all of our problems immediately, but I am confident that the implementation of Construction 2020 will provide us with a sustainable housing stock in the medium to longer term.
127. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she is satisfied that her Department, by instructing schools to collect and hold personal data relating to primary school students and their family backgrounds, under the primary online database scheme, is not exposing those schools to potential legal difficulties; if, in view of Government legislative proposals relating to data sharing across Departments, she can guarantee that data collected under the scheme will never be shared, beyond the stated purpose for which it is gathered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8828/15]
View answerThe legal basis for sharing the pupil data between schools and the Department is as laid out in Section 28 of the Education Welfare Act, which provides for the sharing of data for the purposes outlined in the act.
Section 28 of the Education Welfare Act 2000 allows for personal data to be transferred between the Minister for Education and Skills, recognised schools, the National Council for Special Education, and the Child and Family Agency, if it is used for a relevant purpose only, including "recording a person's educational or training history or monitoring his or her educational or training progress in order to ascertain how best he or she may be assisted in availing of educational or training opportunities or in developing his or her full educational potential". In addition under Section 266 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 there is provision for sharing information with the Minister for Education and Skills.
My Department has instructed schools to keep the data securely for future possible auditing by the Data Protection Commissioner.
My Department will ensure that the data collected in POD will not be shared beyond what the stated purposes for which it is collected.
128. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will ensure that adequate resource support hours are provided for children with Down syndrome; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8735/15]
View answerUnder the existing allocation system, all pupils with Down's syndrome, including pupils with mild general learning difficulties, are entitled to receive additional teaching support.
Support is provided from a school's General Allocation Model (GAM) hours, or from an allocation of additional resource teacher hours allocated to schools by the NCSE.
In the current school year my Department has allocated approximately 4950 learning support/resource teachers through general allocation, while the NCSE has allocated over 6200 resource teachers.
I am aware that some parents, and Down syndrome representative organisations, have concerns that the existing system does not give them certainty as to the support that their children will receive under the GAM, as these hours are distributed locally by schools.
I recently met with Down Syndrome Ireland, and some parents of children with Down syndrome to discuss their concerns in this regard. I am meeting with more parents this week.
I will consider and review the issues which have been raised and will keep the House informed of my developing views on this matter.
129. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the basis upon which she is satisfied that there is no religious discrimination in the admissions policy of national schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8737/15]
View answerSchools are not permitted to discriminate against an applicant for admission on any of the nine grounds set out in the Equal Status Act.
However, the equality legislation makes provision for exemptions to apply in the case of single sex schools and in the case of schools where the objective is to provide education in an environment that promotes certain religious values.
The legislation provides that any primary or post primary school that has this objective may admit a student of a particular religious denomination in preference to other students. The legislation also provides that such a school can also refuse to admit a student who is not of that religion but only where the school proves that this refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.
Schools that comply with the requirements of the equality legislation do not therefore discriminate on religious grounds.
130. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will report on the latest engagement with the teachers' trade unions on junior cycle reform; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8831/15]
View answerThe full text of Dr Travers's proposal document is available on my Department's website. Both sides were asked to confirm whether they accepted or rejected this as a basis for agreement.
While the proposal put forward by Dr Travers requires significant further compromise on my part, I indicated to Dr Travers that I am prepared to accept it as a basis for agreement. In doing so I acknowledged his considerable effort at achieving a fair and reasonable compromise since being nominated for the role of independent chair by the two unions.
Under the proposal, teachers are no longer asked to assess their own students for the purpose of State certification. This is a very significant measure in addressing a previous core union concern. In not suspending their industrial action, the unions have rejected the Travers proposal. I deeply regret that decision. The effect of their ongoing action is to seek to prevent teachers from participating in Continuing Professional Development that is available to give them the knowledge and support they need to do their jobs. I also regret that the Unions have taken this decision without balloting their wider members on what is a substantially new proposal.
No one group can be allowed to exercise a veto on educational reform. I intend to proceed with implementation of Junior Cycle reform, based on the Travers' proposal and I will be working with the wider education partners in doing so. I remain open to the unions revising their decision.
