Written Answers Nos. 246-263
246. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Education and Skills the process for verification of school textbook content prior to being certified as suitable or accurate in detail by his Department or the National Competitiveness Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39934/18]
View answerThe Department of Education and Skills does not endorse any particular product or publication, including textbooks. The decisions on which textbooks and other resources to use in primary and post-primary schools are taken at school level. The decision on which text most appropriately covers the curriculum rests within the school itself.
Textbooks are commissioned and published by educational publishers, and schools select their books from those available from a number of publishers.
247. Deputy Pat Casey asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of school building projects in County Wicklow; the timeline for completion of same in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39945/18]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that the current status of large-scale projects, including those in County Wicklow, being delivered under the school building programme may be viewed on my Department’s website, www.education.gov.ie and this is updated monthly. A list of large scale projects completed from 2010 to date may also be viewed on the website.
248. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to increase the capacity of a school (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39950/18]
View answerMy Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools, which have enrolled students with special educational needs, in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, s/he will have access to an appropriate education.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) which is a separate independent statutory body, plans and co-ordinates the provision of education and support services to children with special educational needs, in consultation with the relevant education partners and the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The NCSE is aware of emerging need from year to year, and where special provision, including special class or special school provision, is required, it is planned and established to meet that need. This is an on-going process.
The NCSE has advised my Department that there is an emerging need for additional Special School placement options in the Kildare area.
As the Deputy is aware, a new school building for the school referred to by the Deputy is included in my Department’s six year construction programme.
The project is currently at site identification stage and my Department is engaging with Kildare County Council on this matter. A decision on the new school’s capacity will be made when the site has been identified and the project brief developed. My Department will liaise with the school authorities in this regard.
In the interim, the NCSE is working with the Board of Management of the school in relation to expanding provision in the existing school site. The Board of Management of the school can apply to my Department for capital funding if the school is not a position to accommodate additional placements within its existing accommodation.
My Department continues to work with the NCSE to ensure that there is appropriate planning in place to ensure that all children who require special class placements can access such placements in schools within their communities.
249. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to make history a compulsory subject for the junior cycle curriculum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39972/18]
View answerWhen schools are implementing the new Framework for Junior Cycle, they have the autonomy and flexibility to design programmes within the parameters of the framework, mindful in particular of the needs of their students and their teaching resources. I am in favour of leaving the decisions on what is offered to the discretion of the school, and of students having as broad a range of options to choose from as possible.
Because the total number of full subjects which can be done for assessment in junior cycle is ten, it is likely that schools will retain most or all of their current subjects in their junior cycle going forward.
Currently, over 90% of students choose History, although it is compulsory only in voluntary secondary schools, not much more than half our post-primary schools. Curriculum choice is important in motivating students to learn and to remain in school to completion of senior cycle.
Schools across all sectors offer History. History teachers attract students to their subject through their own love and passion for History, and by engaging the natural curiosity of their students in, for example, the lives of people, the origins of the modern world and in objects and documents from the past. History is generally the 5th most popular subject in the Junior Certificate examination.
I have every confidence that, through the implementation of the Framework for Junior Cycle the place of History will be retained and given a new impetus across the junior cycle curriculum. A new specification for Junior Cycle History has been developed by the NCCA. This involved extensive consultation with key stakeholders and the public, which finished recently, during which over 200 submissions were received. The new specification has been introduced in all schools from September 2018.
The Leaving Certificate History syllabus attracts about 25% of the total cohort of students. The aim is to make the new specification for Junior Cycle History more attractive, so young people can see it as a realistic option, rather than focusing on learning content by heart. Many people believe that uptake in senior cycle could be improved if the junior cycle History was made more attractive, more relevant and perhaps less of a race against time.
In the new Framework for Junior Cycle, all schools are expected to provide opportunities for students to achieve 24 statements of learning over the period of junior cycle. These statements include valuing local, national and international heritage and understanding the importance of the relationship between past and current events, the forces that drive change, and understanding the origins and impacts of social, economic and environmental aspects of the world around them. Even where students do not take History as a full subject, it is to be hoped that opportunities to achieve such statements through other forms of historical study can be provided to them.
The minimum time allocated for subjects such as History will be 200 hours over the three years of junior cycle, or the equivalent of three 40-minute periods per week over three years. For many schools, this will lead to an increased time provision for History as a subject, and it will no longer be nominally linked to Geography as previously. This new minimum time stipulation for History as a subject should allow not only for a deepening of a student's historical knowledge but also of his or her ability to analyse, interpret, write and develop historical skills more thoroughly. Those very skills, and attitudes, can indeed be hugely important in ensuring that students are able to understand and interpret all forms of history, news and current affairs too.
250. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration has been given to providing persons who have a postgraduate qualification in primary school teaching with the option of a streamlined postgraduate programme in post-primary school teaching in order that those looking to retrain would not have to duplicate modules already undertaken. [39976/18]
View answerAll initial teacher education programmes, including the development of any streamlined programme as referred to by the Deputy, that lead to registration must have professional accreditation from the Teaching Council, based on the Council's review and accreditation strategy and its accreditation criteria.
Accordingly, it would be a matter for the HEI developing the programme to obtain professional accreditation from the Council.
In the circumstances referred to by the Deputy, the issue of duplicate modules or recognition of prior learning would be considered as part of the overall process for the development of such programmes.
251. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to allow special needs assistants to take unpaid leave for the purpose of undertaking teaching practice when retraining as primary or secondary school teachers. [39977/18]
View answerSpecial Needs Assistants (SNAs) are recruited specifically to assist in the care of pupils with disabilities, who have additional and significant care needs, in an educational context. They may be appointed to a special school or a mainstream national school to assist school authorities in making suitable provision for a pupil or pupils with special care needs arising from a disability. The first priority is that the care needs of the pupils are met on an ongoing basis during the school year.
In June 2012, my Department, in conjunction with the School Management Bodies and the relevant Trade Unions, agreed a Career Break Scheme for Special Needs Assistants in Recognised Primary and Post-Primary Schools, the provisions for which are contained in Circular Letter 22/2012. The purpose of the Career Break Scheme is to enable employers, wherever possible, to facilitate applicants to take time off to engage in, among other things, personal development and education (including teacher training). This Scheme therefore is applicable for courses where participants are required to attend teaching practice and be absent from the provision of care duties for significant periods of time during the school year.
252. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if provision will be made to allow special needs assistants who are qualified as primary school teachers to work as full-time learning support teachers in post-primary schools with benefits and leave. [39978/18]
View answerThe recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for the individual school authority, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24(3) of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012).
In accordance with Department Circular 31/2011, schools are required to employ appropriately qualified and registered teachers and ensure that unemployed teachers should be offered employment in preference to those who have retired. This Circular details a cascade of measures for the recruitment of teachers, prioritising registered teachers over retired registered teachers and unregistered people.
254. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the application for a new school (details supplied); if it has now reached the stage of appointment of a preferred bidder; if in this context when construction will commence; the anticipated finalising date thereof; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39996/18]
View answerThe Letter of Intent for this school project issued on 21st September 2018. The Letter of Acceptance appointing the contractor is expected to be issued in Quarter 4 of 2018 when all the necessary documentation has been received from the preferred bidder. The project is expected to reach completion in Q3 2019.
255. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if an audit has been carried out of those schools with vending machines in order to assess the income levels provided and determine the way in which schools can develop alternative sources of income; if not, the reason therefor; if the matter will be examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40048/18]
View answerUnder the provisions of the Education Act 1998 the Board of Management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school.
My Department is not aware if any audit has been carried out on those schools where vending machines have been installed by the school Board of Management. It is a matter for each individual school to determine the nature of any fundraising activities that they become involved in.
Restoring capitation funding as resources permit is one of the actions included in the Action Plan for Education and I remain committed to achieving this. However, I must be prudent in the context of ongoing budgetary pressures and prioritise where it is not possible to do everything that I would like to do in the education sector in any one year.
256. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a question will be included on the income levels provided to schools by vending machines as part of the life skills survey; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40049/18]
View answerThe Lifeskills Survey data provides important information which informs Departmental priorities and policies in the areas of health and wellbeing for students. The findings from the survey highlight the work being done in schools to equip students with a range of essential lifeskills, including physical activity and healthy eating, aspects of Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE), as well as addressing anti-bullying, substance use and road safety.
Previous surveys included a question relating to the availability of vending machines in schools. This question is directly relevant to the promotion of healthy eating in schools. The inclusion of a question regarding income levels provided to schools by vending machines is not, however, relevant to the topics explored in the Lifeskills survey and, therefore, a question on this will not be included in the 2018 survey.
258. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to increase the number of special needs assistants for a school (details supplied). [40069/18]
View answerThe National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school.
The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in Department Circular 0030/2014, which is available on the Department's website at www.education.ie, in order that students who have care needs can access SNA support as and when it is needed.
In considering applications for SNA support for individual pupils, the NCSE take account of the pupils' needs and consider the resources available to the school to identify whether additionality is needed or whether the school might reasonably be expected to meet the needs of the pupils from its current level of resources.
SNAs are not allocated to individual children but to schools as a school based resource.
SNA allocations to all schools can change from year to year as children with care needs leave the school, as new children with care needs enrol in a school and as children develop more independent living skills and their care needs diminish over time.
My Department’s policy is to ensure that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to such support.
By the end of this year, there will be a total of 15,000 Special Needs Assistants working in our schools, a 42% increase on 2011.
The NCSE Appeals Process may be invoked by a parent or a school where it is considered that a child was not granted access to SNA support on the grounds that Department policy was not met in accordance with Circular 0030/2014.
Schools may also appeal a decision, where the school considers that the NCSE, in applying Department policy, has not allocated the appropriate level of SNA support to the school to meet the care needs of the children concerned.
Where a school has received its allocation of SNA support for 2018/19, but wishes new enrolments or assessments to be considered, which were not taken into account when the initial allocation was made, they may make a further application to the NCSE.
As this question relates to a particular school, I have referred the question to the NCSE for their direct reply.
259. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to locate a new school (details supplied) for the Castleknock and Carpenterstown area of Dublin 15 at the Phoenix Park racecourse site; if his attention has been drawn to widespread local support for locating the school at this site; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40071/18]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, a project to deliver permanent accommodation for the new post primary school to serve Castleknock and Carpenterstown is included on my Department's capital programme.
Officials in my Department continue to liaise with officials in Fingal County Council in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the identification and acquisition of a suitable location for the school in question and have identified a preferred site option within the relevant school planning areas. Negotiations with the landowner in respect of this proposed acquisition are currently ongoing.
In the interim the school will be accommodated from September 2018 at the former Institute of Horology property, Mill Road, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 on a temporary basis.
Due to commercial sensitivities relating to site acquisitions generally, the Deputy will appreciate that I am not in a position to provide further details in relation to the permanent site for the school at this time but I can confirm that the school patron is being kept appraised of developments in respect of the site acquisition process.
260. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of his Department's stand at the National Ploughing Championships 2018; the number of staff deployed from his Department for the week; and the cost of same. [40351/18]
View answerThe Department did not have a stand at the National Ploughing Championships. Two members of the Department's staff, who work within the European Social Fund Managing Authority (ESF MA), attended as part of the European Commission's Representation in Ireland tent, as did their colleagues from the European Regional Development Fund Managing Authorities. The purpose of the ESF MA staff’s attendance was to increase the visibility of the role of the European Social Fund in Ireland, and to provide relevant information to members of the public. This is in line with Article 115 of the Common Provisions Regulation (EU) 1303/2013 which requires that Member States and managing authorities undertake activities to publicise “the role and achievements of cohesion policy and of the Funds through information and communications actions….”. Travel and subsistence costs amounted to €1537.94.
261. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of permits that have been issued in the fishing industry under the atypical scheme from 1 January to 31 August 2018; and the nationality of the fishers. [39510/18]
View answerI am advised by my officials in the Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service (INIS) that the most recent figures available indicate that between 1 January 2018 and 31 August 2018 a total of 107 permits were issued to non-EEA nationals under the Atypical Working Scheme for Non-EEA Fishermen in the Irish Fishing Fleet. The nationality of same is set out in the table below:
|
Nationality |
Number of Permits Issued |
|
Egypt |
44 |
|
Philippines |
50 |
|
Ghana |
7 |
|
Indonesia |
4 |
|
Sri Lanka |
2 |
|
Total |
107 |
262. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if there is comprehensive Garda vetting of applicant bus drivers seeking employment at a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39511/18]
View answerThe primary purpose of the employment vetting carried out by An Garda Síochána is to seek to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. Vetting is carried out by the Garda National Vetting Bureau primarily in accordance with the provisions of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016.
The National Vetting Bureau carries out vetting for relevant organisations registered with it. A relevant organisation means a person (including a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons) who employs, enters into a contract for services or permits any person to undertake relevant work or activities, a necessary and regular part of which consists mainly of the person having access to, or contact with, children or vulnerable persons.
Relevant work in respect of bus drivers is set out under Schedule 1 to the Act and in this context vetting is required where a public service vehicle is being used only for the purpose of conveying children or vulnerable persons, not in respect of services which are available to the public at large.
263. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the communications, press and public relations budget allocated to his Department for 2018; the way in which it is being spent; if it is behind or ahead of profile; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39376/18]
View answerMy Department does not specifically allocate a budget to communications, press and public relations for any given year. The main exception to the above is Cosc - the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence - which allocates a budget to the annual spend on its national campaign against domestic and sexual violence, "What Would You Do?". The budget allocated for 2018 is €1,100,000, of which €535,404.53 has been spent to date. It is projected that the entire budget will be utilised by the end of the year.
All other external communications expenditure is typically taken from the funds allocated for the general administration of the Department. The balance of this spend to date is €98,614, which has largely been spent on communications in relation to the Commission of Future Policing and anti-human trafficking initiatives.
