Written Answers Nos. 91-99
91. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills the timescale and cost of the commitment in the programme for Government to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio in junior and senior infants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18731/16]
View answerThe Programme for Government has a commitment to reduce the pupil teacher ratio for junior and senior infants.
The pupil teacher ratio in the current school year is 1 classroom teacher for every 28 pupils. Budget 2016 provides for a one point adjustment to the staffing allocation to primary schools, which will be implemented for the 2016/17 school year. This will see the primary staffing schedule operate on the basis of a general average of 1 classroom teacher for every 27 pupils. Lower thresholds apply for DEIS Band 1 schools, ranging from 20:1 to 24:1 depending on the type of school.
Each 1 point adjustment for junior and senior infant classes would have an estimated cost of €4.1m to €4.9m.
In the next Budget I will consider the best approach to further meeting commitments in the Programme for Government.
92. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills the location of schools under religious patronage which he will divest in 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18733/16]
View answerThe Programme for a Partnership Government reflects the Government's objective of strengthening parental choice and further expanding diversity in our school system. The desire of parents for diversity in education is primarily being pursued by increasing the number of non-denominational and multi-denominational schools with a view to reaching 400 by 2030. Progress on the divestment process has, in recent years, been slower than might have been hoped. However, by developing new approaches I am convinced that we can significantly increase the rate of progress. The Government is committed to working with all stakeholders to facilitate this process and I am progressing these matters as a priority.
In relation to the new schools which will open in 2016 under the patronage divesting process, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that a new multidenominational primary school will open in Greenhills, Dublin, in September 2016 under this process. My Department and representatives of the Dublin Archdiocese and of the local parish have agreed that a former school building in which St. Peters Boys' National School, Limekiln Road, Greenhills was located, will be made available to the Department for educational use. My Department and Archdiocese representatives have worked, and continue to work, very closely on the practicalities of the property issues involved in advance of this school opening from the start of the coming school year 2016/17. My Department is also liaising closely with the patron of the new school, Educate Together, in this regard.
My Department is also continuing to work very closely with Mayo County Council in order to make a Council-owned property in Castlebar, which is currently vacant, available to my Department for educational use under the divesting process. This will facilitate a new multi-denominational primary school opening under the patronage of Educate Together for the start of the coming school year.
93. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools that have had status under the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools action plan in each of the years 2006 to 2016, to date, in tabular form; why his Department postponed the action plan when it was highlighted in the national drugs strategy as a key mechanism for addressing deprivation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18735/16]
View answer94. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills the budgetary allocation under the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools action plan in each of the years 2006 to 2016, to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18736/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 93 and 94 together.
The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the table.
I wish to advise the Deputy that the DEIS programme was not postponed and continues to be delivered in 836 schools serving a total of 169,500 pupils schools nationwide.
As the Deputy is aware, the review of the DEIS programme is currently underway and it is my intention that a New Action Plan for Educational Inclusion will be published by the end of this year.
The review is looking at all aspects of DEIS, including the identification process for the inclusion of schools in the programme, the range and impact of different elements of the School Support Programme, and the scope for increased integration of services provided by other Departments and agencies, in order to improve effectiveness.
In the meantime, I do not propose to make any changes to the current programme, including the addition of further schools until the completion of the Review and agreement on a new Action Plan.
Table 1: DEIS Expenditure , illustrates the yearly expenditure on the DEIS programme from 2006 to 2015 and the 2016 estimate as well as the total number of schools participating in the programme.
Table 1: DEIS Expenditure
|
Year |
Total Number of Schools |
Total DES Expenditure €m |
Total DSP Expenditure €m |
Total DCYA Expenditure €m |
Total Overall Funding for DEIS |
|
2006 |
873 |
139.80 |
Not Available |
n/a |
139.80 |
|
2007 |
873 |
159.99 |
28.2 |
n/a |
188.19 |
|
2008 |
876 |
161.51 |
32.3 |
n/a |
193.81 |
|
2009 |
881 |
151.12 |
31.1 |
n/a |
182.22 |
|
2010 |
881 |
139.59 |
35.0 |
n/a |
174.59 |
|
2011 |
866 |
112.32 |
35.0 |
30.26 |
177.58 |
|
2012 |
860 |
111.44 |
35.0 |
26.89 |
173.33 |
|
2013 |
851 |
112.80 |
36.8 |
26.45 |
176.05 |
|
2014 |
849 |
111.09 |
16.6 |
24.76 |
152.45 |
|
2015 |
836 |
110.69 |
38.8 |
24.76 |
174.25 |
|
2016 |
836 |
110.27 |
42.0 |
24.76 |
177.03 |
Notes on Table
Changes in the total number of schools reflect school amalgamations or closures.
In 2011 under the National Education Welfare Board (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 2011 responsibility for the School Completion Programme (SCP) transferred to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. SCP funding transferred from Department of Education and Skills to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in the same year.
95. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills the statistics on early school leavers in each year of the years 2006 to 2016 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18737/16]
View answerThe following information is taken from the 2008 Retention report by the Department of Education and Skills, on school retention in Ireland. It is based on a detailed analysis of the records held in the Department's Post-Primary Pupils Database (PPPDB) for the cohort of entrants to the first year of the junior cycle from the years 2000 to 2008 who sat the Leaving Certificate Examinations in the years from 2005 or 2006 to 2014 or 2015. The Department will produce a report on the 2009 cohort for those who sat the Leaving Certificate in 2015 by July this year. See attached table 1.
For more detailed information on these cohorts please visit the DES website for the full report. http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Statistical-Reports/stats_retention_report_2008_cohort.pdf
My Department has also published two reports are based on a detailed analysis of the records held in the Department focusing on those pupils who were enrolled in post-primary schools in one academic year but not enrolled in one of these schools one year later. These pupils, using a unique personal identifier (a protected identifier key based on the Personal Public Service Number (PPSN)), were tracked to other data sources that were available at the time. The first report was based on cohort of pupils who were enrolled in years prior to the final year of senior cycle in the 2009/2010 academic year and who were not enrolled in the 2010/2011 academic year form the subject of the companion report and the subsequent report was based on the cohort of pupils enrolled in the 2010/2011 academic year and not enrolled in the 2011/2012 academic year. The full reports are available at http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Early-Leavers-What-Next-.pdfhttp://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Statistical-Reports/Early-Leavers-What-Next-2016-Report-.pdf.
Table 1: National Leaving Certificate Retention Rate for 2000-2008 entry cohorts
|
Year |
Retention Rate |
|
2000 |
84.8 |
|
2001 |
84.7 |
|
2002 |
84.8 |
|
2003 |
85.7 |
|
2004 |
87.7 |
|
2005 |
89.5 |
|
2006 |
90.2 |
|
2007 |
90.1 |
|
2008 |
90.6 |
96. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills the funding under the RAPID education programme in each of the years 2006 to 2016, to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18738/16]
View answerThe RAPID Funding made available to schools through my Department in the years in question was:
2007 - €175,331
2008 - €4,326,170.41
2009 - €1,254,888.13
No further RAPID funding was disbursed through my Department in 2006 or after 2009.
The funding was made available to provide educational infrastructure in disadvantaged schools serving RAPID areas by way of small scale capital grants to enhance existing, and provide new, outdoor play areas, school libraries, dining areas and parent rooms.
97. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools that have a substance misuse strategy; if he liaises with schools as to the way to implement and manage their substance misuse strategies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18739/16]
View answerData, taken from the Department's Lifeskills survey 2012, indicates that more than 90% of schools provide their students with information on alcohol and drug misuse, through SPHE and other means. The report on the 2015 Lifeskills survey is currently being finalised and will be available shortly. Analysis so far indicates that the high level of implementation of strategies regarding substance misuse remains.
My Department is making a significant contribution to the implementation of the current National Drugs Strategy, primarily through the delivery of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum in schools. The Department is also represented on the key national structures that oversee implementation of the Strategy including the Oversight Forum on Drugs and the National Coordinating Committee for Drug and Alcohol Taskforces and the Education and Training Boards are represented on the relevant Local Drug and Alcohol Taskforces.
SPHE, which has a specific module on the use and misuse of a range of substances, is currently mandatory in all primary schools and at junior cycle level in post primary schools. Schools are also encouraged to deliver the SPHE programme in senior cycle.
The Department's Inspectorate, including dedicated SPHE inspectors at post-primary level, visit SPHE lessons and provide support and advice to teachers and schools. In recent years, the Inspectorate published two composite reports which provide insights into the effectiveness of the teaching of SPHE at primary and post-primary level. At primary level, the report published in 2009 drew from forty inspections of the teaching of SPHE. At post-primary level, the report published in 2013, drew from sixty-three inspections at post-primary level which focused on Junior Cycle SPHE and Senior Cycle Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE). Within these reports, inspectors describe the overall quality of subject provision and whole-school support for SPHE as very good or good in most schools. In response to questionnaires in these schools, 84% of students strongly agreed that SPHE helped them to understand the reasons for substance misuse, and 90% of students strongly agreed that SPHE helped them to understand the effects of abuse on individuals.
98. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the teaching of social, personal and health education and its progression as a subject on the curriculum for the senior cycle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18740/16]
View answerThe Social Personal Health Education (SPHE) curriculum is mandatory at primary level and up to junior cycle at post-primary level. Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) is embedded within SPHE at Junior Cycle level. A framework for Senior Cycle SPHE is available to schools and while its implementation is not mandatory, schools are required to provide a Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) programme in Senior Cycle.
Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE), Physical Education (PE), and Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE), along with guidance will be included in a new area of learning called Junior Cycle Wellbeing programme from September 2017. A school's Wellbeing programme will provide learning opportunities that enhance the physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing of students.
The SPHE curriculum aims to provide a range of generic skills such as communicating, making decisions, knowing where to find reliable data, belonging and integrating, handling conflict constructively, dealing with bullying, expressing feelings and emotions, substance abuse, resisting peer pressure, personal safety, values and mutual respect.
99. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Education and Skills to expedite an application by a school (details supplied) that has four teachers and 90 pupils, given that the number of pupils will increase to 100 in September 2016, that the building is over 100 years old and is no longer fit for purpose and that the provision of a new building is essential; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18769/16]
View answerI can confirm that the school referred to by the Deputy has submitted applications to my Department for capital funding in relation to its school accommodation. The applications concerned are currently being considered and a decision will be conveyed to the school authority shortly.
