Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 16 December 2016
160. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Education and Skills the ranking of Tipperary town in terms of level of need in the current DEIS programme, as an urban centre and the individual ranking of the schools in the town, based on information and research in the possession of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40553/16]
View answerThere are 14 schools in Tipperary which participate in the current DEIS Programme. Of these 2 are categorised as DEIS Band 1; 5 as DEIS Band 2; 7 in the Rural strand of DEIS and 7 Post-Primary schools. One of the Post-Primary schools is located in Tipperary Town. Under the current programme inclusion in DEIS is based on school data rather than area based information.
As the Deputy will be aware a process to review the current DEIS programme is nearing completion. The review process is looking at all aspects of DEIS, including the range and impact of different elements of the School Support Programme, the potential for innovation within and between schools and its 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 area of:
School leadership
School networks and clusters
Teaching methodologies
Integration of schools and other State supports within communities
Greater use of Home School Community Liaison services
A new assessment framework is also being developed using centrally held CSO and DES data for the identification of schools for inclusion in a new Programme. The number of schools to receive supports under a new School Support Programme will be determined by this proposed new identification process, which will assess all schools in the country. Schools will not be required to submit an application for assessment as the methodology being applied involves the use of centrally held data already available to my Department.
Implementation of actions arising from the Action 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.
Further information on the DEIS Review process is available on the Department’s website at www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools.
