Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 July 2015
27. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in view of the European Union priority on school completions, the priority the Government places on this issue; and his plans to support school completion programmes. [21873/15]
View answerThe Government places a high priority on combating educational disadvantage and ensuring that each child has the opportunity to achieve his/her potential in education and learning. My Department works closely with the Department of Education and Skills and other relevant Government departments to achieve these aims.
Under the remit of my Department, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency has a statutory function to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The Educational Welfare Service of the Child and Family Agency is a statutory service supporting regular school attendance for all school age children and young people. Where school attendance problems arise for a child, the Agency concentrates on finding solutions within a collaborative intervention framework involving children and their families, schools and other relevant agencies. The aim is to generally improve the school attendance, participation and retention of young people who are risk of early school leaving and educational disadvantage.
The School Completion Programme aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle. The programme is a targeted intervention aimed at school communities identified through the Department of Education and Skills’ DEIS Action Plan for Educational Inclusion. It provides targeted supports annually to approximately 36,000 children. DEIS is a key measure to address early school leaving in line with Ireland's Europe 2020 Strategy commitments.
Since 1st January 2014, the Child and Family Agency has had operational responsibility for the School Completion Programme. In 2014, an allocation of €24.756 million was provided for the programme. The Agency has confirmed that there will be no change to the overall budget in 2015.
The Child and Family Agency has asked Chairpersons of Local Management Committees to prepare their school retention plans for the 2015/2016 school year based on the expenditure allocated last year and to return them to the Agency by early June. These plans are now being assessed in the Agency and it is anticipated that projects will be notified of their 2015/16 allocation before the start of the new school year.
The ESRI is currently reviewing the School Completion programme which will help in future decisions on its structure, governance and operations. The report is almost finalised and it is expected to be available in the coming weeks.
I have advised the Agency of my commitment to ensuring that there is no diminution in the school completion programme services. The School Completion Programme is an important service within the Agency’s educational welfare services. It is highly regarded as a key response in securing improved educational outcomes for children and young people at risk of early school leaving.
