Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 October 2016
233. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education and Skills the schools in the Dublin 8, 10 and 12 areas which are not recognised as DEIS schools; if they had applied in the past; and, if so, the reason they were refused the status and additional resources to address the social exclusion identified in those areas. [30362/16]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that the list of schools that have DEIS status is available on my Department's website at the following link:
www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/.
There are 40 Primary schools in the Dublin 8, 10 and 12 areas, 29 of which have DEIS Status. 7 were surveyed at the time DEIS was introduced in 2005 and were judged not to have met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in DEIS. 4 Primary Schools have opened in the area in question since 2005.
There are 22 Post Primary schools in the Dublin 8, 10 and 12 areas, 13 of which have DEIS status. 4 were examined at the time DEIS was introduced in 2005 and were judged not to have met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in DEIS. 5 are classified as colleges of further education.
As the Deputy may be aware, a review of the DEIS programme is currently underway and, as I have recently announced, a New Action Plan Educational Inclusion will be published before the end of this year. The review is looking at all aspects of DEIS, including the range and impact of different elements of the School Support Programme, particularly the scope for increased integration of services provided by other Departments and Agencies, in order to improve effectiveness.
Among the measures to be included in the plan are a series of pilot schemes aimed at introducing measures which have been shown to work well in improving results for disadvantaged children and students. The plan is expected to include targeted measures in the areas of:
- Supporting school leadership.
- Developing Networks and clusters for DEIS teachers and schools.
- Supporting new teaching methodologies. There is evidence that, for example, changing the way literacy is taught to children who struggle can achieve major improvements in results
- Exploring ways in which the work of schools can be better integrated with other state supports within the community
The results of pilot programmes will be carefully monitored before any decisions around mainstreaming are considered.
Also under consideration is the development of a new assessment framework using centrally held CSO and DES data for the identification of schools for inclusion in a new programme to tackle educational disadvantage. The number of schools to be included in the programme will be determined by this proposed new identification process which will assess all schools in the country, including those not currently participating in DEIS. It will not be necessary for schools to make an application.
Implementation of actions arising from the Plan for Educational Inclusion will begin in the 2017/18 school year, and will be a continuing theme in our wider Annual Action Plan for Education.
