Written Answers Nos. 301-308
301. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education and Skills if students and teachers will be required to wear personal protective equipment due to Covid-19 once primary and secondary schools are reopened; if so, if he anticipates that there will be a tendering process in place for providing same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11603/20]
View answerOn Friday my Department published the report to Government “Planning for reopening schools in line with the Roadmap for reopening society and business” https://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Announcements/framework-for-reopening-and-operating-schools.html
Detailed engagement with education partners and stakeholders is underway in relation to the development of public health guidance in a school setting. My Department will also establish a drawdown framework for schools to enable the purchase by schools of supplies such as hand-sanitisers for use in the school and classroom. The procurement process for this framework is commencing immediately and it will also deal with any other potential PPE requirements. It is not envisaged that significant PPE will be required in school settings. All requirements for PPE in schools will be in line with public health advice.
302. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for the July provision for 2020; his views on the fact that it is an essential need in view of the Covid-19 challenge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11616/20]
View answerMy Department has published details of a summer programme for children with special educational needs enrolled in special schools, special classes and mainstream classes. The programme incorporates some aspects of the July Provision of previous years.
Summer Provision 2020 – Reconnecting with Education, is a significantly expanded programme for children with complex special educational needs which aims to re-establish the child’s relationships and connection with school and their peers as a basis for learning and participation and to help the child to re-engage in learning and social activities and help them adapt to new routines and changes. The programme aims to ensure, in so far as possible, that the child can reintegrate/transition into their planned education setting for the next school year with their peers. In-school or home-based supports by teachers and SNAs will help to prevent regression among children with special needs.
The eligibility criteria has been widened to include the following categories of children:
1. Pupils with a diagnosis of Autism
2. Pupils with severe and profound learning difficulties
3. Any child in a special class or special school
4. Children transitioning into a special class or special school from early year’s settings
5. Pupils in primary school mainstream classes who present with the following disabilities:
- Children with Down syndrome
- Children who are Deaf or most severe hard of hearing
- Children who are blind or have a most severe visual impairment
- Children who have a moderate general learning disability
- Children with severe emotional behavioural difficulties.
All special schools and primary schools with special classes are invited to provide the school based summer provision for their students. This programme will run for a minimum of two weeks and can extend up to four weeks where the schools, teachers and Special Needs Assistants are willing to participate.
Home-based provision will be available where a child’s local school is not providing a programme or does not have the capacity to accommodate a child in a planned programme this year. In this situation my Department will provide grant funding towards the engagement by Parents of a registered teacher/SNA to provide home based support for 10 hours a week for 4 weeks.
The programme will be reliant on schools, teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) choosing to participate on a voluntary basis.
A dedicated online registration system for families of children with special needs to access Summer Provision is now available on Gov.ie/summerprovision
Parents are asked to register their participation online, providing some outline information of the extent of their participation in the programme e.g. number of weeks.
Once registered, the parent is then free to plan and organise the programme for their child by consulting with the child’s school and securing the services of a teacher or SNA.
I also announced a programme for DEIS schools for this Summer.
Full information on summer provision and its various strands, including guidance information for parents, is available at Gov.ie/summerprovisio
303. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the entry requirements for professional masters in primary education are increasing in 2021; the rationale for this decision; the options for students who have completed the leaving certificate but do not have the required result in Irish or mathematics, for example; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11621/20]
View answerMy Department made a decision in 2017, based on advice received from the Teaching Council, to set higher Minimum Entry Requirement Standards (MERS) to primary teaching for Leaving Certificate Mathematics, English and Irish with effect from September 2019.
The new MERS were approved following detailed consultation and are designed to maintain the integrity of Initial Teacher Education and to support quality teaching and learning in primary schools.
As the original timing of the higher MERS may have caused difficulties for some students planning on undertaking a Professional Masters of Education (PME) as an entry route to primary teaching, my Department made a decision in 2019 to defer the increased MERS for entry to the primary postgraduate route for an additional two years until September 2021. This deferral was to allow students the opportunity to make arrangements to ensure they have the necessary entry requirement for entry to the programme.
I am of the view that the new higher MERS, are the appropriate standards and will apply for entry to the PME programme in September 2021.
In the case of a student who does not meet the minimum entry requirement in Irish, English or Mathematics, it is open to the person to repeat the Leaving Certificate Examination or pursue a course of study leading to the one of the alternative qualifications in the subject(s) concerned as outlined in the published Entry Requirements and Procedures for 2020.
304. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Education and Skills if it is the school that is deemed the employer of a teacher as opposed to his Department; if his Department is deemed the paymaster as opposed to the employer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11622/20]
View answerUnder Section 24 of the Education Act, 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act, 2012) the board of management is the employer of teachers and other staff of the school. In the case of schools under the auspices of an Education and Training Board (ETB), the relevant ETB is the employer.
Education Shared Business Services – ETB Payroll (ESBS ETB Payroll) which is a section of the Department of the Education and Skills acts as an agent on behalf of certain ETBs for the purposes of processing salary payments, however the individual ETB remains the employer and paymaster. The Department of Education and Skills acts as a paymaster to all other recognised schools.
305. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of progress of the new campus for a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11634/20]
View answerPlanning permission for the school building project referred to by the Deputy was granted by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council on the 13th June 2019 subject to 18 no. conditions. Two of these conditions relating to the provision of a public greenway were subsequently the subject of a first party appeal by my Department to An Bord Pleanála. The decision of An Bord Pleanála overturning these two conditions was received on 4 February 2020.
Pending the delivery of the permanent accommodation both the school and its Patron Body were advised that the Department will be providing appropriate temporary accommodation on the permanent school site for September 2020. This process is ongoing with the construction stage of the temporary accommodation commencing on 19 May 2020.
306. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of progress of new buildings for schools (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11635/20]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that the project to which he refers, for which funding has been provided under my Department's Additional Accommodation Scheme, has been devolved to the School Authority of the first named school in question for delivery. I can also inform the Deputy that the project is in the final stages of the tender process in that respect.
307. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of progress of a new building for a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11636/20]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that it is intended that the school in question will relocate to an existing building currently occupied on an interim basis by another school while awaiting the construction of a building project for that school.
In this regard, the building project for that school is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning Stage 2(b) Detailed Design. A revised Stage 2(b) report incorporating a previously approved Brief Change Request has been submitted and reviewed by my Department. Comments were subsequently issued to the Design Team who are currently carrying out a final review of all tender documents. As soon as this final review is complete, the Design Team will submit confirmations to my Department. The pre-qualification process to select a shortlist of contractors has been completed. Upon receipt of Design Team confirmations, my Department will be in contact with the school regarding the further progression of the project at that time.
308. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the amount his Department spent on social media monitoring in 2018 and 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11840/20]
View answerThe Department's social media is managed by the staff in its Communications Unit. No additional cost is incurred by the Department for social media monitoring.
