Written Answers Nos. 264-280
264. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration has been given to providing extra leave to expectant mothers who work in the education system and are due back to work in September 2020 but feel unsafe doing so; and the implications this will have on their maternity leave if forced to take it from the 24th week of pregnancy, leaving a reduced bonding time after the baby is born. [12526/20]
View answerThe general principles to apply to the management of COVID-19 includes the safety and welfare of employees and the minimisation of the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning.
Because of the diversity of Institutions providing education, the opening of such Institutions needs to be carefully managed and planning is underway in my Department. This process includes consultation with stakeholders, takes into account the experience of other countries and the ongoing public health advice. The health of school staff and the advisability of providing extra leave will be considered as part of this process.
265. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a student teacher who is doing summer provisions for July and will not receive payment for such until November 2020 will be asked to come off the pandemic unemployment payment leaving them without payment for July. [12527/20]
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.
Newly Qualified Teachers, once registered and vetted with the Teaching Council of Ireland are eligible to provide tuition under the scheme. The scheme is not open to unregistered teachers.
Unfortunately, given the volume of payments to be processed annually, approximately 9,500 of which issued in 2019, it is not possible to have all payments processed so as to have them issued earlier than the end of October or early November each year. A common pay date was introduced a number of years ago in order to increase efficiency so that staff can channel their efforts into processing payments rather than dealing with numerous queries on payment dates. This decision was made after consideration of available staffing resources within my Department and there are no plans to change from this arrangement at the current time. The common pay date is advertised prior to the start of the Summer Programme.
It is my understanding that where a person is returning to work and is currently in receipt of the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment, they must stop the payment on the first day back at work. Any further queries in this regard should be addressed to my colleague in the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
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/summerprovision.
266. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of plans to send children back to school full time; and if he has considered sending children back to school full time on a trial basis and reducing the number of days if the measure does not work. [12533/20]
View answerOn 12 June, 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.
The report sets out the clear ambition to develop a sustainable plan to fully reopen schools at the start of the next school year in late August/September in line with normal timeframes.
The report also sets out in brief the contingencies, including the matter raised by the deputy that must be considered during the coming period in the context of Covid-19. A key component to reopening schools safely is the development of guidance in relation to infection prevention and control in schools.
These contingencies and guidance will be worked through in detail in the coming weeks with education partners and stakeholders to ensure that the return to school is safe for children and staff.
267. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if funding and further ASD units will be provided for schools in western areas of County Cork in view of the shortage of such units throughout the region. [12535/20]
View answerEnsuring that every child has a suitable school placement is a key objective of this Department. Significant resources are allocated each year to ensure that appropriate supports are available for children with special educational needs.
Since 2011, the number of special classes in mainstream schools has increased almost threefold, from 548 to 1,618 for the 2019/2020 school year; with 1,353 of these catering for children with autism.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide; has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents; and seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special class placements.
The NCSE is planning a further expansion of special class and school places nationally, including Cork, to meet identified need for next year. This process is ongoing.
It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, is made available to the school. My Department works closely with the NCSE in this regard.
Normally, special class and school places are established with the full cooperation of the schools in areas where they are required. However there are some parts of the country where the NCSE has faced challenges in getting schools and their patrons to voluntarily agree to provide special class or school places. I know that this can cause much anguish for parents and families involved.
As Minister for Education and Skills, I have power under Section 37A of the Education Act 1998 to direct a school to provide additional provision where all reasonable efforts have failed. This legislation has been used to good effect in the recent past.
The NCSE has advised that they have experienced difficulties in securing special class or school placements in certain areas in Co Cork, but that they are continuing to work as a matter of urgency in accommodating students who require such placements.
The NCSE's Local Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise both schools and the parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available at: https://ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list.
268. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) is not being granted DEIS status; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12539/20]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, my Department is in the final stages of refinement of the DEIS identification model, based on school enrolment data and the latest data available from Census 2016 under the HP Deprivation Index.
This work is at an advanced stage and the initial phase of the consultation process with education stakeholder representatives on the technical aspects of the refined DEIS ID model has commenced. It is envisaged that this model will then provide the basis for development of a DEIS resource allocation system to match resources to identified need.
I am confident that the culmination of this work will facilitate the ultimate aim of matching resources to identified need and will allow us to target extra resources at those schools most in need. Until this work is complete, it is not intended to extend the DEIS programme to any further schools.
269. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education and Skills the preparations being made for students in fifth year that are due to undertake their exams in June 2021 in terms of curriculum time loss and so on; and his plans in terms of the leaving certificate in view of the fact that this affects many students who are anxious to have a clear roadmap ahead of them. [12564/20]
View answerFollowing the school closure in March 2020, my Department published a range of guidance to assist schools and teachers in ensuring continuity of teaching and learning for students as well as supporting their wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This guidance aimed, inter alia, to ensure regular engagement of students in lessons, tasks and learning experiences across the range of curriculum subjects, provision of regular assignments and regular, practical, supportive and customised feedback on work submitted.
Schools adopted various ways to engage with their students in accordance with the technology and broadband resources available in school and at home, including by post, e-mails, communication apps, the school website, use of other digital communicative platforms, including live meetings. Schools were asked to be conscious of pupils who may not have access to online facilities and to adapt approaches so that these pupils continued to have the opportunity to participate in learning.
The aim of these distance learning approaches, the guidance which issued to all schools and the regular engagement with students, was to ensure that students stayed connected with and progressed their learning. These actions will, therefore, have helped to minimise the impact of school closure.
In the context of planning for a return to school which is underway, the Department recently published a report to Government on Planning for reopening schools in line with the Roadmap for reopening. This report is available on my Department’s website.
The Department, in consultation with relevant agencies, including the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), identified the following key priorities in supporting students in re-engaging with the curriculum in the new school year:
1. The wellbeing and socialisation of students
2. Assessing where students are in terms of their learning
3. Identifying the additional supports that particular learners may require
4. Exploring options for remote provision that will compliment in-school provision and address curriculum gaps experienced during school closure
It is recognised that schools continue to be best placed to make decisions about how to support and educate all their learners during this period. The Department will be working in collaboration with the NCCA to develop guidance to schools to assist them in their planning so as to ensure that curricular priorities are delivered and that teaching and learning is optimal in these circumstances, guided at all times by public health advice.
Those going into sixth year in post primary schools are a group that will receive a particular focus in the context of preparations for the Leaving Certificate examinations in 2021.
My Department is acutely aware of the challenges faced by students at this difficult time, and how the current circumstances will continue to present challenges into the future. The welfare of students is, and will continue to be, front and centre in all decision making.
270. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Skills when decisions will be made on exceptional review applications for SNAs; when schools will be informed of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12565/20]
View answerThe NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. My Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations.
The NCSE is planning to respond to all applications for exceptional review received prior to 22nd May 2020 by 30th June 2020 and in that regard, it will prioritise applications from schools with no current SNA allocation and developing schools.
Applications for an Exceptional Review received after 22 May 2020 will continue to be processed once all other applications have been completed.
The exceptional review process for mainstream allocations will be available to schools throughout the 2020/21 school year.
Schools have been notified of the arrangements for the allocation of SNA support in respect of students in mainstream classes for 2020/21. The arrangements include the following provisions:
- 2019/20 mainstream class SNA allocations will be frozen, from the date of issue of Circular 0030/2020, and will automatically rollover into the 2020/21 school year. This means that no school will receive an allocation less than that which they have on the date of issue of this Circular and existing SNAs currently in standard SNA posts can continue in these posts for the next school year in the normal way.
- Schools may apply to the NCSE for additionality where they can demonstrate that the current allocation does not meet additional care needs within the mainstream classes in the school. Applications for additionality arising from significant new or emerging additional care needs, which cannot be catered within existing allocations, will be dealt with by way of an exceptional review process.
- A diagnosis of a disability, or a psychological or other professional report, will not be necessary for this process.
- The role of the SNA to support the care needs of students in mainstream classes, as set out in Circular 0030/2014, remains unchanged.
It is expected that schools will review and reprioritise the deployment of SNAs within mainstream settings and allocate resources to ensure those with the greatest level of need receive the greatest level of support. Providing access to SNA support continues to be based on primary care needs as outlined in DES Circular 0030/2014.
Detailed information on the NCSE exceptional review process is published on the NCSE website www.ncse.ie.
271. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps that can be taken to help a student (details supplied) who was not informed by the pupil's school of a deadline for course work to be submitted by 11 May 2020. [12578/20]
View answerMy Department has made contact with those students entered for the Leaving Certificate examinations who were studying independently, regarded as ‘out of school’ learners, and will be contacting them again in the coming days with details of the application process that such learners should follow to be considered for calculated grades.
The student referred to by the Deputy should refer to the information provided to him to identify which option is most suited to their individual circumstances. Where students had registered for subjects so as to satisfy the minimum matriculation requirements of a course of further studies the students concerned may wish to contact the Institutions concerned to establish that such requirements continue to apply.
Every effort will be made to provide calculated grades to as many students as possible, provided that there is credible, satisfactory evidence from an appropriate source, on which an estimated percentage mark can be based. However, in the absence of any such evidence from an appropriate source, it will not be possible to provide a calculated grade. In these cases students will have the opportunity to sit the 2020 Leaving Certificate examination at a later date, when it is safe to do so.
272. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills if teachers and SNAs will be given an additional payment for the proposed programme to be carried out with children with special needs over the summer; and the estimated timeframe for this proposed programme to start and finish. [12598/20]
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. The scheme will commence no earlier than 29th June 2020 with all provision concluding by 21st August 2020 at the latest. Schools/parents/guardians have flexibility to provide support within this eight week timeframe.
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. The grant level/pay rates for teachers and SNAs participating in the home based summer programme are based on the pay rates for teachers and SNAs participating in the school based summer programme. These rates were determined in advance following consultation with the unions and are paid in addition to their existing salaries and are published on my Department's website.
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/summerprovision.
273. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills when he plans to inform schools and other education providers of the time frame for reopening in 2020. [12599/20]
View answerOn 12 June, 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.
The report sets out the clear ambition to develop a sustainable plan to fully reopen schools at the start of the next school year in late August/September in line with normal timeframes.
The report also sets out in brief the contingencies that must be considered during the coming period in the context of Covid-19. These contingencies and guidance will be worked through in detail in the coming weeks with education partners and stakeholders to ensure that schools have sufficient time to plan for reopening and that the return to school is safe for children and staff
274. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a school (details supplied) will be considered for DEIS status; his plans to conduct a review of schools seeking DEIS status; if the programme will be opened to a new round of applications; his further plans to amend the system to allow applications in order that schools can be more proactive in seeking DEIS status; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12606/20]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, my Department is in the final stages of refinement of the DEIS identification model, based on school enrolment data and the latest data available from Census 2016 under the HP Deprivation Index.
This work is at an advanced stage and the initial phase of the consultation process with education stakeholder representatives on the technical aspects of the refined DEIS ID model has commenced. It is envisaged that this model will then provide the basis for development of a DEIS resource allocation system to match resources to identified need.
I am confident that the culmination of this work will facilitate the ultimate aim of matching resources to identified need and will allow us to target extra resources at those schools most in need. Until this work is complete, it is not intended to extend the DEIS programme to any further schools.
275. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for the reopening of schools regarding enhanced cleaning regimes; if deep cleaning of schools will be a requirement for all schools; if there will be a requirement for the use of professionals rather than allowing schools use volunteers in administering same; if schools will be expected to pay for the enhanced regime from their own budgets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12609/20]
View answerOn 12 June, 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.
The report sets out the clear ambition to develop a sustainable plan to fully reopen schools at the start of the next school year in late August/September in line with normal timeframes.
The report also sets out in brief the contingencies, including the matter raised by the deputy, that must that must be considered during the coming period in the context of Covid-19. These contingencies and guidance will be worked through in detail in the coming weeks with education partners and stakeholders to ensure that the return to school is safe for children and staff.
276. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he has engaged with universities on extending flexibility for mature students accessing third level in view of the uncertainty caused by the calculated grades system. [12610/20]
View answerMature students seeking to enter third level education apply are applying on a different basis than those who apply on the basis of their Leaving Certificate results. Therefore mature students are unlikely to be impacted by the implementation of calculated grades.
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are governed by the Universities Act 1997, the Institutes of Technologies Acts 1992 to 2006 and the Technological Universities Act 2018. Within the meaning of these Acts, higher education institutions are autonomous with regard to management of their academic affairs including admissions procedures.
As such, neither I nor my Department has any role in relation to admissions procedures for mature students and queries on these processes should be directed to the HEIs.
277. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a person (details supplied) has been refused a SUSI grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12617/20]
View answerFor student grant purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students.
For a dependent student, the reckonable income for grant purposes includes both his/her own income and that of his/her parents/legal guardians.
A student may be assessed as an independent mature student if he or she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st January of the year of first entry to an approved course, or of re-entry following a break in studies of at least three years, and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous October. Otherwise he or she would continue to be assessed on the basis of parental income.
An applicant's class is defined at his/her first point of entry to an approved higher or further education course and this will continue to apply for the duration of his/her studies.
If an individual applicant considers that s/he has been unjustly refused a student grant or that the rate of grant awarded is not the correct one, s/he may appeal, in the first instance, to SUSI.
Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by SUSI and remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal form outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board within the required timeframe.
(The student to whom the Deputy refers was appealing on the basis of student status (independent/Dependent) and was in third year of his course. However, his class was determined at the first point of entry to his course.)
278. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the urgent need for a hall and PE facilities for a school (details supplied); and the application for funding for same will be considered favourably. [12618/20]
View answerI can confirm that my Department recently received an application, for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation scheme, from the school authority referred to by the Deputy. Once the application has been assessed, the school authority will be contacted directly with a decision.
279. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education and Skills the provisions put in place to ensure the return to school will be safe. [12620/20]
View answerOn 12 June, 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.
The report sets out the clear ambition to develop a sustainable plan to fully reopen schools at the start of the next school year in late August/September in line with normal timeframes.
The report also sets out in brief the contingencies that must be considered during the coming period in the context of Covid-19. These contingencies and guidance will be worked through in detail in the coming weeks with education partners and stakeholders to ensure that the return to school is safe for children and staff.
280. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education and Skills if there will be additional funding allocated to fully take account of additional hygiene and refuse costs incurred by schools upon their return; and if the schools will not have to meet the additional cost. [12624/20]
View answerOn 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.
The 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. 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.
