Written Answers Nos. 124-143
124. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) in County Kerry is losing a teaching post under the new special education teaching allocation; if this case will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26076/17]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools were published on 7 March 2017.
These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.
The revised allocation process replaces the generalised allocation process at primary and post primary school level for learning support and high incidence special educational needs, and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocation process which provided additional resource teaching supports to schools, to support pupils assessed as having Low Incidence disabilities.
The new Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile.
Allocations based on the school profiles were issued to all schools on 7 March. Details of the special education teaching allocations have also been published on the NCSE website.
The aim of this new model is to deliver better outcomes for children with special educational needs. Substantial research, analysis, consultation with service users and stakeholders, and piloting have gone in to the development of this model and all of the evidence points to the fact that this new system will deliver better outcomes for children.
No school, including the school to which the Deputy has referred, will lose supports as a result of the implementation of the new model. In addition, no school will receive an allocation, for the support of pupils with complex needs, less than the allocation they received to support such pupils during the 2016/17 school year.
An additional 900 teaching posts have been provided to support the introduction of this new allocation model. The provision of an additional 900 teaching posts is a very significant investment in the provision of additional teaching support for pupils with special educational needs in our schools. This is additional to an increase of 41% in the number of resource teachers allocated to schools annually by the NCSE since 2011.
The additional funding will provide additional supports to over 1200 schools who are identified as needing additional supports as a result of the new model. Supports for children with special educational needs is a key priority for this Government. The new funding will ensure that all schools receive a sufficient allocation of special education needs resources to provide additional teaching support to all pupils, including pupils who have yet to enrol in their school, who require such support.
In relation to the particular school referred to by the Deputy, this school had a Learning Support allocation of 40 hours for the 2016/17 school year, which combined with 33.15 resource teaching hours allocated to the school by the National Council for Special Education, gave a total allocation to the school of 73.15 additional teaching hours for the 2016/17 school year.
As the profiled allocation for the school did not indicate an increased allocation requirement for the school for 2017/18, the school has maintained its existing level of allocation.
The special education teaching allocation for this school for 2017/18 is 73.15 hours.
There has therefore been no reduction to the special education teaching allocation for this school.
Schools who wished to submit an appeal were asked to do so by March 31 2017.
The NCSE has confirmed that the school referred to in this question has not submitted an appeal.
Schools could appeal whether the data used to calculate their school profile was correct and complete and whether it was correctly applied in the calculation of their 2017/18 allocation.
The model will also allow for some additional provision for exceptional circumstances or where a school’s enrolment levels increase very substantially prior to the next review of the model. The National Council for Special Education will support schools in managing their special education teaching allocations in the first instance. Only in very exceptional circumstances, where it can be demonstrated that the schools profile has changed very significantly since the allocation was made to the school, may an additional allocation of hours be made to the school.
Guidelines for schools on the organisation, deployment and use of their special education teachers to address the need of pupils with special educational needs have also now been published and are available on my Departments website.
The Guidelines will support schools to reflect on how they can review and manage their timetabling practices to ensure the timetable is sufficiently flexible to meet the needs of all pupils in their school who have special needs. The Guidelines encourage schools to ensure they deploy their resources appropriately to meet the needs of all of the children in their school who require additional teaching support, including pupils with emerging needs, or new entrants.
125. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children a primary school can refer for a NEPS assessment in a given school year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26082/17]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware 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 receive assessment services through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Under this scheme schools can have a student 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 focused 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.
In this context school authorities should raise for consideration with their assigned NEPS psychologist or local NEPS office cases where ongoing concerns remain in relation to pupils social emotional or educational development with a view looking at the appropriateness of direct intervention by the psychologist. It is the product of these discussions which will inform, for example, the number of formal assessment to be undertaken rather than any applied limit thereof.
126. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the process that a school should follow if a NEPS assessment recommendation is to have all siblings in a family assessed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26083/17]
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 receive assessment services through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Under this scheme schools can have a student 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.
As previously described to the Deputy and 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 focused 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.
Discussion of NEPS direct involvement with a specific child or pupil should be based on the direct concerns raised and evidenced in relation to that child’s social, emotional or educational development, familial history may inform this process.
As with all other situations I would advise that parents should raise such concerns, in the first instance, with the school principal with a view to his/her discussing them with the assigned NEPS psychologist or local NEPS service in relation to the appropriateness of their direct involvement in the case and the nature of that involvement.
127. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the site acquisition process in respect of a national school (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26093/17]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, a site acquisition process for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently underway. A suitable permanent site for the school has been identified and agreement in principle with the landowners has been reached.
The acquisition process in respect of this site is currently at the conveyancing stage and my officials are working to complete it as expeditiously as possible.
128. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the Government's timeframe to end the pay inequality for teachers in view of the impending publication of the Public Service Pay Commission report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26108/17]
View answerAs a consequence of the financial crisis, there was a need to enact a number of measures to reduce public expenditure so as to stabilise the country's public finances. A previous Government reduced the salaries and allowances payable to all new entrants to public service recruitment grades by 10% with effect from 1 January 2011. This decision also required that such new entrants would start on the first point of the applicable salary scale, which in the case of teachers had the effect of reducing their starting pay by a further 4-5%. Later in 2011, the Government placed a cap on the overall level of qualification allowances that could be earned by teachers.
Subsequently in 2012, following the public service-wide review of allowances, the Government withdrew qualification allowances for new teachers altogether. However, the Government partially compensated for this by deciding that new entrant teachers would henceforth commence on a new salary scale which had a starting point higher than the starting point of the old scale.
The public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration for public servants to start. I have used this to negotiate substantial improvements in pay for new teachers. The agreement reached with TUI and INTO will see pay rises of between 15-22% (between €4600 and €6700) for new entrant teachers. The agreements also provide for earlier permanency for younger teachers, new promotion opportunities and new flexibilities in working hours.
The agreements have restored an estimated 75% of the difference in pay for more recently recruited teachers and deliver full equality at later points in the scale. This is substantial progress and strikes an equitable balance with other claims for funding on my Department, particularly needs such as enhanced service for children with special educational needs, for disadvantaged schools, for growing schools, for Higher Education and for apprenticeships.
It must be borne in mind that the pay reduction for post-2011 entrants to the public service applied to all public servants and not just teachers, and that any restoration of these measures in respect of teachers would be expected to be applied elsewhere across the public service. While I am not in a position to provide an estimate of the total cost of restoring all post-1 January 2011 entrants in all areas of the public service to the pre-2011 pay scale arrangements, I can say that in the case of education and training sector employees, including teachers, the estimated current full year cost would be in the order of €85 million. Clearly, the cost across the entire public service would be substantially higher.
However there are other types of equality that we must also bear in mind, for example equality between public servants and people who work elsewhere or don’t work at all. It would also not be equal or fair for us to do unaffordable deals with particular groups of public servants that mean that we do not have the money left in the public purse to provide increases in social welfare payments for vulnerable groups, tax reductions for people at work, or investments in improvements in public services that people rely on.
In education, there is a well-established increment system. Teachers are not paid equally. For example, the pay scale for teachers appointed prior to 2011 ranges from €32,009 to €60,155 depending on the date that the individual began teaching. Part of the negotiation to date has secured a convergence of the scales of recruits at different periods.
Any further negotiation on new entrant pay cannot focus on just one sector. A broader assessment of pay and new entrant pay will be informed by the recently published analysis of the Public Service Pay Commission. The Government established the Commission to examine pay levels across the public service, including entry levels of pay. The Government also supports the gradual, negotiated repeal of the FEMPI legislation, having due regard to the priority to improve public services and in recognition of the essential role played by public servants.
I accept that the teacher unions have outstanding pay demands and that the new entrant deal does not travel the full distance that they set out to achieve. However, it does represent significant progress, and the door is not closed to the trade union movement seeking to advance the issue further in the context of public service pay talks. My colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, invited the Public Services Committee of ICTU to discussions on public service pay and a continued approach to the unwinding of the FEMPI legislation and these discussions are now underway.
129. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26115/17]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
Currently almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 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.
Children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
An eligible child for whom no transport service is available may, following an application for transport within the prescribed time limits, receive a Remote Area Grant towards the cost of private transport arrangements.
Children wishing to apply for school transport should complete an application form on Bus Éireann's website at www.buseireann.ie.
130. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the name of each person who sat on the panel to select the new board of Caranua; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26120/17]
View answerWhile the statutory function of appointing members of the Board of Caranua rests with the Minister for Education and Skills, the application and selection process is managed on my behalf by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) in accordance with the Guidelines on Appointments to State Board published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
I can confirm that the PAS assessment panel consisted of the following persons:
Ms Valerie Little, HR Consultant, Chairperson
Dr Fionnuala Waldron, St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra
Mr David O’Callaghan, Chairperson of Caranua
Ms Catherine Hynes, Principal Officer, Department of Education and Skills.
131. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the current CEO of Caranua is a member of the panel to select new board members for that organisation. [26125/17]
View answerWhile the statutory function for appointing members of the Board of Caranua rests with the Minister for Education and Skills, the application and selection process is managed on my behalf by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) in accordance with the Guidelines on Appointments to State Board published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
I can confirm that the Chief Executive of Caranua was not a member of the PAS assessment panel that considered applications from individuals seeking to be appointed to the Board.
132. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the current salary of the CEO of the Teaching Council of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26128/17]
View answerThe salary scale applying to the post of Director of the Teaching Council is Principal Officer (Higher) (PPC) (€87,741-€107,410).
However, the current Director is a serving civil servant on secondment to the Teaching Council from a government department, where he holds the grade of Director (Civil Service). In accordance with the secondment arrangement, the Director retains the salary due to him in his substantive grade of Director (Civil Service) (PPC) (€99,845-€119,514). This is paid to him by his parent department, which recoups from the Teaching Council the amount of his salary equivalent to the post of Director of the Council.
133. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the CEO of the Teaching Council is entitled to a contract of indefinite duration under the fixed-term work Act 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26129/17]
View answerThe Teaching Council had a concern as to whether the appointment of the Director for a second term would give rise to a contract of indefinite duration. My Department clarified the contractual terms, which provide for a fixed-term contract in the context of the continuation of a secondment arrangement. Subsequently the Council reappointed the Director for a five year fixed-term from 14 May 2017.
134. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the roll-out of the well-being programme for junior cycle; if the programme will be in place for all students for September 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26130/17]
View answerAll schools will offer a well-being programme to those students entering first year in September 2017. Well-being is built on a number of pillars, which include subjects already offered. These subjects include CSPE, PE and SPHE. Schools have the flexibility to add other curricular subjects and initiatives to their well-being programme.
This area of learning will make the school’s commitment to well-being visible to students. It will include learning opportunities to enhance the physical, mental, emotional and social well-being of students. It will enable students to build life skills and develop a strong sense of connectedness to their school and to their community.
Planning for well-being in schools involves consideration of four aspects;
(1) Culture
(2) Relationships
(3) Policy and planning
(4) The curriculum
As with all new subject specifications and programmes the development was informed by extensive consultation and engagement with stakeholders.
The Junior Cycle Well-being programme will begin with 300 hours of timetabled engagement in 2017 and build up to 400 hours by 2020 as the new Junior Cycle is implemented fully in schools.
All the curriculum components of the Well-being curriculum provide opportunities for ongoing classroom based assessment and formative feedback. Reporting on students’ learning in Well-being happens in two different ways: reporting in first and second year, and reporting as part of the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) at the end of third year.
135. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the progress on expanding the incredible years programme to all DEIS primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26131/17]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that my Department has committed, as part of the Action Plan for Education 2016-2019, to the roll-out of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Programme to all DEIS schools. In order to support this development and as part of the Action Plan for Education 2017 I can inform the Deputy that NEPS psychologist number will be increased by 10 staff. In this regard a process is currently underway in conjunction with the Public Appointments Service (PAS) to recruit these psychologists which, it is envisaged, will be in place for the commencement of the 2017/18 academic year.
Furthermore planning is currently in train for the commencement of roll out of the Incredible Years programme, involving an initial 25 courses with 500 teachers from DEIS schools and commencing in the autumn. To this end NEP staff regionally are actively involved with counterparts in the Teacher Education Centres nationwide in arranging venues for these training events, in the scheduling and planning of programme delivery and will, in due course, be issuing invitations to schools in relation to teacher attendance at the events. The programme will continue through 2018 and 2019.
I hope this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.
136. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has completed the assessment of supports to schools in the areas of mental health and social and emotional competence as outlined in the action plan for education; the findings of the assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26132/17]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that a comprehensive review of the range of activities, which are relevant to the promotion of mental health and social emotional competence supported by my Department, has been completed. Informed by this work a DES Well-being Steering Group has been formed. This will review DES policy and provide a practice framework aligned with existing policy documents. It will also identify gaps in supports, engage in liaison with other Departments and agencies and map the existing support for schools provided by the DES and other Department’s agencies.
In addition the Department of Health has initiated a Pathfinder Project which is examining cross departmental collaboration in regard to youth mental health. Recommendations will be forthcoming from this work. My Department has been an active participant in this Project.
137. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the development of the senior cycle physical education framework; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26133/17]
View answerA new Framework for Senior Cycle Physical Education (non-examinable) has recently been completed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and approved by me.
The Framework will assist schools to design a P.E. programme for those students who may not choose to take P.E. as part of their Leaving Certificate examination. The aim of the Framework is to encourage learners’ confident, enjoyable and informed participation in physical activity while in senior cycle and in their future lives.
The Framework is one part of planned, broader provision for physical education at senior cycle. A new specification for Leaving Certificate Physical Education, an examinable subject for Leaving Certificate, has also been recently approved. These developments are in keeping with the strong emphasis from my Department on promoting and encouraging Healthy Lifestyles for all students and commitments in the Programme for Partnership Government.
Timing of implementation of the Framework and the new specification will be considered in the context of the planned review of senior cycle.
138. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide details of the use of funding by Caranua since it was established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26134/17]
View answerCaranua is an independent statutory body established under the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012. The legislation provides that €110 million in contributions from religious congregations will be made available to Caranua to help meet the needs of persons who, as children, were abused in residential institutions.
Approximately €60m had been spent on services for former residents with a further €6m approximately expended on administration costs. Services have been provided to over 4,500 applicants.
It is a statutory requirement that Caranua prepares both an annual report of its activities and proceedings and an annual account of moneys received and expended. The annual reports and accounts for each of the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 have been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Those reports and accounts detail Caranua’s activities in the years in question and provide appropriate financial information. I understand that the annual report for 2016 will be submitted to me shortly while the accounts will be submitted to me following completion of the audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Both documents will be laid before the Houses in the normal manner.
I should point out also that Caranua provides regular updates on its website (www.caranua.ie) regarding its activities.
139. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the consultation process for the development of the primary curriculum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26135/17]
View answerIn December last year, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment published proposals related to structure and time in the curriculum for primary schools. These proposals have formed the basis for extensive consultation since then. This consultation is the first time, in almost twenty years, that those working in primary education have had an opportunity to consider the structure of the curriculum, what it should comprise and how time should be allocated within it.
The consultation, which closed recently on May 26 used a number of different formats.
- A major consultative conference took place on March 28 in Dublin Castle and was attended by 190 delegates including teachers, principals, early childhood practitioners and managers, parents, researchers, policy-makers, and members of the wider public. Delegates participated in discussion group sessions as they explored the proposals. I addressed delegates in the afternoon of the conference. Further details about the conference, including recordings of sessions, can be accessed at www.ncca.ie/timestructureconf.
- 30+ bilateral meetings were held with different organisations and interest groups.
- 7 focus groups with teachers and principals were organised in different parts of the country. Some education partners additionally organised their own focus groups and used these to inform their written submissions as part of the consultation.
- 2,000+ responses were made to an online questionnaire at www.ncca.ie/timeandstructure.
- 55+ written submissions were received.
- consultation meetings with children were organised.
An interim report on the consultation will be discussed by the NCCA Council in June with a final report in the autumn setting out findings of the consultation. Informed by these findings, the NCCA will develop an overview of what a redeveloped primary curriculum might look like—its purpose, philosophical underpinnings, the stages the curriculum will be organised into, the form of curriculum that will apply at each stage—integrated themes, curriculum areas or subjects—the broad content of these, and how much time will be available for the curriculum components, whichever form they take. This work will be the focus of further consultation in 2018.
140. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has undertaken an interim review of the literacy and numeracy strategy; if the review has been published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26136/17]
View answerThe Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, launched in 2011, set out a vision for raising standards in our early years, primary and post-primary school settings. On 14 March last, I launched the Report of the Interim Review of the Strategy. The Report shows the significant progress which has been made under the Strategy since 2011.
The Report is available at: http://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Information/Literacy-and-Numeracy/Literacy-and-Numeracy.html.
141. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the development of the curriculum programme in respect of ethics and beliefs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26137/17]
View answerThe Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector recommended in its report that programmes in Education about Religion and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics be developed. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) was asked to explore the development of such programmes.
The NCCA produced a Consultation Paper in 2015 outlining the proposed rationale, vision, aims and features of a curriculum in ERB and Ethics, and engaged in an extensive consultation process with patrons, education partners, schools, teachers and parents. The final Consultation Report, which outlines the key messages arising from the consultation process and the implications for the development of a curriculum, was published by the NCCA on 14 February 2017.
In the Report, the NCCA notes that the consultation found that ERB and Ethics is viewed as an important part of a child’s education and that there is significant support for the type of teaching and learning outlined in the consultation proposals. However, there are features of the education system that are important contextual considerations for the development and implementation of curriculum provision for ERB and Ethics for primary schools, such as the denominational structure of the system and curriculum overload.
The Consultation Report describes a way forward for the development of integrated provision for ERB and Ethics as part of the newly-developing primary curriculum.
As a step in advancing the recommendations of the Forum on Patronage in this regard, the NCCA has formed a small network of schools to gather and share examples of good practice in the area of ERB and Ethics for schools to use in supporting and developing their practice in this area. The development of proposals for provision for Education about Religion and Beliefs and Ethics at primary level will also take account of the on-going work on the review of the structure and time allocation in the primary school curriculum.
142. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the development of short courses for the junior cycle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26138/17]
View answerShort courses are designed for 100 hours of engagement over the three years of junior cycle. Some short courses have been designed centrally by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and others by schools themselves or other bodies, using the template provided by the NCCA.
Further details on how to develop a short course for Junior Cycle can be accessed at the following link: http://www.juniorcycle.ie/Planning/Short-Course-Development.
143. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has undertaken a review of the senior cycle programmes, including vocational pathways; the status of the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26139/17]
View answerIncreasing choice at Senior Cycle is important for student motivation and engagement. It will ensure curriculum development continues to respond to the changing needs of learners, society and the economy.
As outlined in the Action Plan for Education 2017, a review of senior cycle programmes (including Leaving Certificate Applied) and vocational pathways in senior cycle, has been commenced by the NCCA, with a view to recommending areas for development. As a first step, to inform this review, the NCCA has commissioned research to scope international developments in Upper Secondary Education, which is due to be completed in Summer 2017.
