Written Answers Nos. 98-117
98. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of contacts between his Department and a sports club (details supplied) in respect of outstanding issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38941/16]
View answerThere are a number of complex legal and technical issues to be resolved pertaining to the proposal by the sports club referred to by the Deputy. My Department has been in ongoing communications with the relevant school authorities and Trustees' representatives and the sports club in this regard and will continue to engage where required.
99. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for a transition to work or further education for young school leavers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38975/16]
View answerTransitioning those who left school early back into education and training and thereafter are core objectives of the Youthreach and Community Training Centre (CTC) programmes. These programmes are managed or funded through the Education and Training Boards.
Youthreach is a national programme that helps young people aged 15-20 years return to learning and prepare for employment in adult life. It allows young people the chance to get certified qualifications such as the Leaving Cert or QQI awards. There are over 3,500 places on Youthreach programmes around the country. In addition over 1,200 young people will start a course in a Community Training Centre (CTC). CTCs provide training, educational and employment related services for young early school leavers.
100. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special needs assistants who are having their service shared by more than one child; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38979/16]
View answerThe National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports, including S support. The NCSE allocates S support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in the Department's Circular 0030/2014, which is available on the website at www.education.ie.
This Circular notes that responsibility for deciding on the quantum of educational supports and resources to be allocated to schools to support pupils with special educational needs rests with the NCSE.
It also sets out that S allocations are not made to individual children, but are made to schools to support the care needs of children with assessed special educational needs in the school. In making allocations to schools, the NCSE takes into account the assessed individual needs of all children with identified needs in the school.
Once the allocations have been made to schools it is a matter for schools to make provision for the care needs of qualifying pupils and to allocate S support to provide for their care needs, as those needs arise. Almost all of the allocations for S support made to mainstream schools are therefore shared school based resources, while all of the allocations made to special schools and classes are shared S resources.
Recent years have seen very significant increases in the number of Special Needs Assistants (Ss) which are being provided to schools to support children with special educational care needs. The number of S posts available for allocation to schools has increased from 10,575 posts in 2011, to 12,900 Special Needs Assistants (Ss) have been made available for allocation to primary and secondary schools to the end of 2016, at a total gross annual cost of €425 million.
Details of all of the S allocations made to schools are published on the NCSE website at http://ncse.ie/statistics.
101. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the multidisciplinary teams in schools for children with special needs are working on a full-time basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38980/16]
View answerChildren with special educational needs in schools are supported by classroom teachers, special needs assistants, and through the provision of additional resource teaching support in mainstream schools.
Schools are supported in providing for the educational needs of children with special educational needs by the National Council for Special Education, the National Educational Psychological Services, the Special Educational Support Service, the National Behavioural Support Services and by my Departments Inspectorate. Further supports are also provided to schools by the Visiting Teachers for Children with Visual or Hearing Impairment.
Whereas most resource teacher and S posts are full time in an individual school, some posts are shared between schools, or may be part time posts. In most cases, the services which are provided to schools by supporting bodies or agencies are provided as needs arise in the schools and are therefore provided for a limited period of time to support schools.
102. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the amount approximately it would cost his Department to provide an extra 300 full time, 22 hour weekly resource teachers annually; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38981/16]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that the amount approximately it would cost to provide an extra 300 full time resource teachers annually, would be €18 Million for a full year's cost.
On 27th October, the NCSE announced that following the second round of resource teaching allocation support for the 2016/17 school year, 7430 resource teacher posts have now been allocated to schools.
The current number of resource teacher posts which have been allocated to schools, which is 7430 posts, has increased by 41% since the 2011/12 school year, at which point 5265 posts were allocated.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has a statutory role under the Education of Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 to provide me with policy advice in relation to matters concerning the education of persons with special educational needs.
The NCSE identified that the current model for allocating resource teachers to schools is potentially inequitable, because access to the range of professional assessments required for the diagnosis of low incident disabilities is not always readily available to those who cannot afford to access them privately. The NCSE has also advised that the current model can lead to unnecessary labelling of children from a young age.
The NCSE has proposed a new resource teaching allocation model which will, when introduced, remove the formal requirement for diagnostic assessment to access additional support and which will provide resources to schools based on school profiles.
Given that the NCSE has recommended the introduction of a new allocation model, it is considered that the best use of any additional resources will be to provide for the introduction of the new model, as opposed to revisiting the allocation basis of the old model.
As part the recent Budget announcements, I announced that following development and piloting over the past number of years, a new model for the allocation of teaching resources for children with special educational needs will be implemented from September 2017.
An additional €18 million will be provided in 2017 to provide for around 900 resource teacher posts, which represents the period of 2017 from September to the end of the year.
Further details regarding implementation of the new model will be announced in the coming months.
103. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the requirements to have a school (details supplied) extensively refurbished; the works that are proposed to address this issue; and the timeline for these works to be completed. [38986/16]
View answerMy Department approved a significant devolved grant in April 2015 to the school in question for a permanent extension to replace some temporary buildings identified as being most in need of replacement. Earlier this year the school sought additional funding to provide for an increased scope of works, which was approved by my Department
I can confirm however that no funding has been drawn down to date in respect of this devolved project.
104. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills if investments, either directly or indirectly through pension or other investment funds, are held in tobacco companies by his Department, any agency within the remit of his Department, or any agency or entity in receipt of departmental funding; if his Department has any guideline on such investment; if his Department intends to introduce any policies or guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39029/16]
View answerMy Department is the trustee of a number of legacy endowment and stockholdings and avails of the expertise of the Charities Regulatory Authority (CRA) (formerly The Commissioners for Charitable Donations and Bequests) to manage the day-to-day operation of these investments. My Department completed the transfer of funds in respect of these investments to the CRA in 2013. Following a review of files, there is no record of any investments held in tobacco companies.
The Department also holds an investment account with the Central Bank in respect of the National Training Fund.
Details relating investments in respect of bodies/institutions under my Department's remit are a matter for each body/institution.
105. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills the student retention rates at Waterford Institute of Technology for each of the years 2013 to date in 2016, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39041/16]
View answer107. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills the student retention rates at the Institute of Technology Carlow for each of the years 2013 to date in 2016, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39043/16]
View answer109. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students attending Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, who are registered as doctoral students and as a percentage of the overall student population at WIT in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39045/16]
View answer110. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students attending the Institute of Technology Carlow, ITC, who are registered as doctoral students and as a percentage of the overall student population at ITC in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39046/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 105, 107, 109 and 110 together.
As the Deputy will be aware the HEA conducts undergraduate progression analysis annually which covers progression / non-progression from 1st year into 2nd year across all HEA funded institutions. The most recent analysis, completed in the November 2016, covers progression / non-progression from academic year 2013/2014 into academic year 2014/2015. The data for IT Carlow and Waterford IT is contained in the attached tables. The previous years figures are also shown. In relation to doctoral students there are currently 7 PhD students enrolled at IT Carlow, which accounts for 0.1% of the total student enrolment (6,820 students). There are currently 140 PhD students enrolled at Waterford IT, which accounts for 1.8% of the total student enrolment (7,792 students).
|
Overall Non-Progression Rates by NFQ Level 2013/14 - 2014/15: Institute of Technology Carlow (2012/13 - 2013/14 in brackets) |
|
|
Carlow IT |
Non-Progression Rate |
|
Level 8 |
14% (18%) |
|
Level 7 |
21% (25%) |
|
Level 6 |
19% (25%) |
|
All Levels |
17% (21%) |
|
Overall Non-Progression Rates by NFQ Level 2013/14 - 2014/15: Waterford Institute of Technology (2012/13 - 2013/14 in brackets) |
|
|
Waterford IT |
Non-Progression Rate |
|
Level 8 |
17% (19%) |
|
Level 7 |
22% (23%) |
|
Level 6 |
25% (26%) |
|
All Levels |
19% (21%) |
106. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide a breakdown of payroll costs as a percentage of operational funding at Waterford Institute of Technology for each of the years 2013 to date in 2016, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39042/16]
View answer108. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide a breakdown of payroll costs as a percentage of operational funding at the Institute of Technology Carlow for each of the years 2013 to date in 2016, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39044/16]
View answer113. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills the core State funding awarded to the Institute of Technology Carlow for each of the years 2007 to date in 2016, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39049/16]
View answerI proposes to take Questions Nos. 106, 108 and 113 together.
The detail requested by the Deputy is set out in the following tables.
IT Carlow Payroll costs to operational funding
|
Institute of Technology Carlow - Payroll costs as a percentage of operational funding - 2013-2016 |
||||||||||
|
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
2016/17 |
||||||
|
Pay |
pay % |
Pay |
pay % |
Pay |
pay % |
Pay |
pay % |
Pay |
pay % |
|
|
of operational funding |
of operational funding |
of operational funding |
of operational funding |
of operational funding |
||||||
|
€ 000 |
€ 000 |
€ 000 |
€ 000 |
€ 000 |
||||||
|
Institute of Technology Carlow |
24,500 |
76% |
24,302 |
75% |
25,200 |
75% |
26,275 |
75% |
29,044 |
76% |
Summary of Core Grant IT Carlow 2007-2016
|
Fees and Grants |
|||||||||
|
2007 Core Grant |
2007 Fees |
2007 Total |
2008 Core Grant |
2008 Fees |
2008 Total |
2009 Core Grant |
2009 Fees |
2009 Total |
|
|
IoT Carlow 2007- 2009 |
€ 20,157,319 |
€4,262,495 |
€24,419,814 |
€21,954,748 |
€4,178,050 |
€26,132,798 |
€20,044,556 |
€3,709,969 |
€23,754,525 |
|
IoT Carlow 2010 2012 |
2010 Core Grant |
2010 Fees |
2010 Total |
2011 Core Grant |
2011 Fees |
2011 Total |
2012 Core Grant |
2012 Fees |
2012 total |
|
€ 16,739,940 |
€5,443,282 |
€22,183,222 |
€15,801,864 |
€5,614,084 |
€21,415,948 |
€16,093,189 |
€4,465,562 |
€20,558,751 |
|
|
IoT Carlow 2013 - 2015 |
2013 Core Grant |
2013 Fees |
2013 total |
2014 Core Grant |
2014 Fees |
2014 total |
2015 Core Grant |
2015 Fees |
2015 total |
|
€16,113,520 |
€3,125,468 |
€19,238,988 |
€15,003,952 |
€3,228,264 |
€18,232,215 |
€15,706,199 |
€2,592,441 |
€18,298,640 |
|
|
IoT Carlow 2016 |
2016 Core Grant |
2016 Fees |
2016 total |
||||||
|
(Provisional) |
|||||||||
|
€16,279,069 |
€2,105,863 |
€18,384,932 |
|||||||
WIT - payroll costs to operational funding
|
Waterford Institute of Technology - Payroll costs as a percentage of operational funding - 2013-2016 |
||||||||||
|
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
2016/17 |
||||||
|
Pay |
pay % |
Pay |
pay % |
Pay |
pay % |
Pay |
pay % |
Pay |
pay % |
|
|
€ 000 |
of operational funding |
€ 000 |
of operational funding |
€ 000 |
of operational funding |
€ 000 |
of operational funding |
€ 000 |
of operational funding |
|
|
Waterford Institute of Technology |
62,679 |
80% |
61,929 |
72% |
62,620 |
77% |
63,640 |
76% |
64,724 |
77% |
111. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of staff at Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, who hold a PhD qualification and as a percentage of the overall staff at WIT in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39047/16]
View answer112. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of staff at the Institute of Technology Carlow, ITC, who hold a PhD qualification and as a percentage of the overall staff at ITC, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39048/16]
View answerI proposes to take Questions Nos. 111 and 112 together.
According to the Higher Education Authority's most recent institutional profiles (which relate to the academic year 2013/14), 19% of full-time academic staff hold a doctoral qualification and 26% of all academic staff hold a doctoral qualification at the Institute of Technology Carlow. In relation to Waterford Institute of Technology, 31% of full-time academic staff hold a doctoral qualification and 28% of all academic staff hold a doctoral qualification.
114. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason Circular 0058/2003 stipulates that home school community liaison co-ordinators can only be in their positions for five years; the reason they cannot reapply for the position immediately rather than having to wait four years; if this stipulation adds further costs to his Department as a result of having to retrain suitable candidates every five years; if the five-year limit fails to ensure the best results for families as a result of changes to the coordinator throughout their school life; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39057/16]
View answerDepartment Circular 0058/2013 "Assignment of HSCL Coordinators within DEIS schools" informs all DEIS Urban Primary and DEIS Post Primary school management and staff regarding the process for assigning teachers as HSCL Coordinators. The contents of the Circular were agreed with teacher unions and management bodies.
One of the basic requirement of the HSCL Scheme since its inception is the rotation of the HSCL post among eligible staff in the school or school cluster of schools at regular intervals, currently 5 years. The rotation of the post gives eligible staff members within the school the opportunity to serve as HSCL Coordinator and to gain an insight and develop experience of educational disadvantage first hand.
Rotation of the HSCL post helps to build capacity within the teaching staff in the important area of parental engagement. The HSCL role provides an understanding of the challenges in the home background and community life of particular pupils. The experience gained over the 5 year period is in turn brought back into the school to complement teaching and learning in the classroom.
Under the terms of Circular 0058/2013, having served the maximum period of 5 years allowed in the post, an existing HSCL Coordinator must vacate the HSCL position for a minimum period of 4 years before being eligible to reapply for a HSCL assignment. This gives other staff members the opportunity to apply for the HSCL assignment and ensures that a HSCL Coordinator returning to the classroom has the opportunity to re-engage with the curriculum and other relevant areas before re-applying for the HSCL post.
Whilst serving in the role of HSCL, all HSCL Coordinators continue to avail of appropriate in-career development and training.
There is no additional cost to my Department in the rotation of the HSCL post as this has always been a condition of the HSCL assignment in participating DEIS schools.
115. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills if, in instances in which children are in foster care and carers have been instructed to ensure that a child placed in their care attends a certain school as per the child's care plan, the child's medical card will be accepted for the purpose of school transport via the school transport schemes even if the specified education centre is not the nearest school to their place of temporary residence during the period for which the child remains in foster care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39093/16]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
Currently over 113,000 children, including some 10,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
Under the terms of my Department's Scheme children are eligible for school transport where they reside not less than 3.2 or 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school or post primary centre as determined by my Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
If the Deputy wishes to submit details of a specific case to my Department, the matter can be examined.
116. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider changing the terms of the primary teacher exchange scheme in order that when the five years is up if both teachers wish to remain on in their exchanged school that they can be offered the permanent position in that school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39104/16]
View answerThe provisions of the teacher exchange scheme are set out by my Department in Circular Letter 0017/2015 the contents of which were agreed under the auspices of the Teacher Conciliation Council. The Teacher Conciliation Council is part of the scheme of Conciliation and Arbitration for Teachers and was set up to deal with claims and proposals relating to the Terms and Conditions of employment of teachers. The Council is composed of representatives of teachers, school management, the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and is chaired by an official of the Workplace Relations Commission.
The Teacher Exchange scheme is open to primary teachers who are registered with the Teaching Council, have completed probation and who wish to exchange their posts for educational purposes. Educational purposes would include enabling teachers in primary schools to gain experience of teaching in different types of settings. The concept is that teachers will gain a different experience, enrich their knowledge and understanding of their professional work and share this understanding with colleagues.
The minimum period for which an exchange may occur is one year and the maximum is five years.
In the current year the issue of this limit and the purpose of the scheme was reviewed under the auspices of Teachers Conciliation Council. Having considered the matter in detail and taking into account all circumstances both the union and management partners considered that their preferred option is to retain the existing scheme as set out in the published circular.
117. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he will take to ensure that a person (details supplied) is afforded a psychological assessment without delay due to the issues which have been identified in their education plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39144/16]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychology service to all primary and post primary schools through an assigned NEPS psychologist and in some cases through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are on the Department's website. Under this scheme schools can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved by NEPS, and NEPS will pay the psychologist the fees for this assessment directly.
In common with many other psychological services and best international practice, NEPS has adopted a consultative model of service. The focus is on empowering teachers to intervene effectively with pupils whose needs range from mild to severe and transient to enduring. Psychologists use a problem solving and solution oriented consultative approach to maximise positive outcomes for these pupils. NEPS encourages schools to use a continuum based assessment and intervention process whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention for pupils with learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties. Teachers may consult their NEPS psychologist should they need to at this stage in the process. Only in the event of a failure to make reasonable progress, in spite of the school's best efforts in consultation with NEPS, will the psychologist become involved with an individual child for intensive intervention or assessment.
This system allows psychologists to give early attention to urgent cases and also to help many more children indirectly than could be seen individually. It also ensures that children are not referred unnecessarily for psychological intervention.
I would advise that if the parents of the child, the subject of the question, have ongoing concerns in relation to their son's educational development they should, in the first instance, discuss them with the Principal of the school with a view to his raising the matter with the assigned NEPS psychologist.
