Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 June 2020
208. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the amount of financial support provided from March to May 2020 to ensure children in the direct provision system have access to information technology equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic to enable them to keep up-to-date with schoolwork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10473/20]
View answerMy Department is working closely with the Department of Justice and Equality International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) and Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) to ensure that school pupils who reside in accommodation centres for International Protection applicants are identified and supported. A communication pathway for schools, parents and centre managers in relation to education issues has been put in place by IPAS. Tusla Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) are assisting children and families who may need support, liaising with schools and sourcing additional services/resources where necessary. With regard to Wi Fi, all accommodation centres, which are under contract to the Department of Justice and Equality, are contractually obliged to have Wi-Fi available to residents. An examination of the level of Wi Fi access in these centres is currently being carried out by the International Protection Procurement Service.
Since the announcement that schools would close, schools have been asked to put in place arrangements to continue the delivery of education to students. A Continuity of Learning Group has been established within my Department and a series of guidance documents have been developed for schools on how they can effectively support and engage with their students in providing programmes of continued learning and address challenges at this time. The guidance also includes advice on supporting pupils at risk of educational disadvantage and children with special needs. All schools and teachers have been asked to communicate regularly and engage with students to ensure that there is continuity in their learning and to continue to plan lessons and, where possible, provide resources for students or online lessons where schools are equipped to do so.
Schools have also been asked to be conscious of students who may not have access to online facilities or technology and to adapt approaches to ensure that these pupils’ ability to participate in learning is not compromised. Many schools have introduced a range of strategies and measures to ensure that the needs of these pupils are catered for, including pupils who have limited access to technology or whose parents are not in a position to support their learning.
In addition, €50m in ICT funding for schools has been announced. Along with the annual €40m annual grant available to eligible schools to buy equipment for use by students and teachers in developing digital technology approaches to teaching and learning, a further €10m in the form of top-up funding was made available to all primary and post-primary schools to assist schools further in the purchase of devices for students and teachers to support continuity of learning during the current school closures due to COVID-19. DEIS schools have been allocated an additional 10% relative to non-DEIS schools to support their students to engage with online learning and educational resources.
Schools are being asked to use this funding to support the continuity of teaching and learning during this period and to address situations where students are disadvantaged in their engagement with the schools remote teaching and learning due to lack of access to digital devices. The devices will remain the property of the schools and loaned to the student to assist them in their studies.
My Department has recently published a guidance document for parents and guardians of children of school going age. This document has been translated into a number of languages so that it can be understood by residents who are residing in IPAS accommodation centres. A newsletter incorporating this guidance document has been issued to all accommodation centres and this includes communication pathways by which residents can communicate on education related issues.
RTE has developed the RTE Home School Hub, which is an additional support for parents and primary school pupils. Pupils are able to watch, download and engage with curriculum-based content, project work, and fun activities to keep them entertained and learning. This broadcast is a supplement to the ongoing learning being provided by teachers.
My Department will continue to work closely with IPAS and TESS to ensure that children of school going age who are residing in accommodation centres under contract to the Department of Justice and Equality to accommodate international protection applicants are supported during the period of this pandemic.
