Thomas Byrne
Question:247. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if additional supports are being considered to support DEIS schools in reopening; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7881/20]
View answerWednesday, 27 May 2020
Questions (247)
Written answers
On the 1st May 2020, the Taoiseach announced as part of the "Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business" that schools will commence opening on a phased basis at the beginning of the 2020/2021 academic year.
My Department is currently working with the Education Partners and relevant stakeholders in planning for this re-opening which will be based on public health advice. As part of this engagement, each of the education partners were given the opportunity to outline the key issues that they would like to have considered in the context of re-opening schools. These issues will now be worked through in detail as part of the development of the roadmap for reopening schools.
A core objective will be to ensure that schools and other education settings can re-open and operate in a safe manner that is consistent with public health advice. The Continuity of Learning group has been set up and will be providing guidance to schools to support schools on re-opening
On Wednesday 6 May 2020, I announced the early payment of the €16million DEIS grant for the 2020/21 school year. The funding is being paid ahead of schedule to all schools in the DEIS programme to help support students who are most at risk of educational disadvantage during the Covid-19 school closures.
There are 890 schools with more than 180,000 students in the DEIS programme. The grants, normally paid in June and September, are worth €12m to the 692 primary schools and €4m to the 198 post-primary schools.
My Department has also issued the €50m in ICT grants, including the additional fund of €10m which was announced recently.
Schools around the country are providing invaluable supports to young people in the most trying of circumstances. They will now be able to use this grant funding, if required, to support existing programmes to ensure continuity of learning, particularly for those most at risk. It is particularly important for students at risk of educational disadvantage to have regular, ongoing schooling.
In addition to the above, my Department has taken a number of measures to date to support children and young people who are at risk of educational disadvantage during the period of school closures.
They include:
- Guidance being issued to all schools to support the ongoing learning of children with special educational needs and children who are at risk of disadvantage
- Collaboration with Cisco/WebEX to support schools with training in video conferencing software – for use by teachers with their classes
- Guidance and resources developed by the National Council for Special Education on supporting children with special educational needs
- Continuation of the School meals programme, funded through the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, to provide food parcels to children who are at risk of food poverty
- Continued funding of Home Tuition or, where this is not possible, flexibility to bank hours for use at a later time in the year
- Resources to support good mental health and wellbeing amongst students produced by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS)
Question No. 248 answered with Question No. 132.