Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2020
761. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education if she will establish a properly resourced taskforce to identify and implement measures that will support children and young persons in DEIS and non-DEIS schools to prevent further educational disadvantage as a result of Covid-19; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32966/20]
View answerDEIS – Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools is the main policy initiative of my Department to address educational disadvantage at school level.
The renewed DEIS Plan published in 2017 sets out the vision for future interventions in the critical area of educational disadvantage policy and builds on what has already been achieved by schools who have benefitted from the additional supports available under the initial DEIS programme introduced in 2005.
The identification of schools for inclusion in DEIS is based on the “multiplier effect” of concentrated levels of socio-economic disadvantage on the educational experience. The approach is grounded in international evidence and it is considered that it is the combination of the various interventions under DEIS that have enabled it to succeed. Recent endorsements for the approach include a 2018 OECD Report (“Equity in Education – breaking down barriers to social mobility”) which showed that educationally disadvantaged students do much better in schools where they are a minority, thereby demonstrating the importance of focusing support on concentrated numbers of students from areas of significant socio-economic disadvantage.
In the 2020/21 academic year there are 887 schools in the DEIS Programme serving over 185,000 pupils - 689 Primary and 198 Post Primary.
The total Department spend on DEIS per annum is over €125 million. Additional funding is provided from Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection for the School Meals Programme and from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for the School Completion Programme.
Responding to specific actions in the NTRIS and in DEIS Plan, a Pilot Programme to target attendance, participation and retention/school completion for Traveller and Roma pupils is established in four areas. Each area is allocated 4 additional staffing resources who are working together with parents, children and young people, schools, Traveller and Roma communities and service providers to remove the barriers impacting on Traveller and Roma children’s attendance, participation and retention in education.
The total Budget allocation of additional funding of €2 million in 2021, with a full year allocation of €5 million in 2022 provides for further supports to be allocated as part of the DEIS programme to those schools catering for the highest concentrations of educational disadvantage. My Department continues to support those schools most in need and I intend to engage with the relevant stakeholders as to how best to achieve this.
The provision of education for children with special needs is an ongoing priority for Government. The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and Special Needs Assistants are at unprecedented levels. My Department will spend approximately €2 Billion or over 20% of its total educational budget next year on making additional provision for children with special educational needs. The main supports this funding will provide for in 2021 are:
• Over 18,000 SNAs will be available for allocation to schools
• 13,765 special education teachers for allocation to mainstream primary and post primary schools
• an additional 235 special class teachers
My Department has consulted with educational stakeholders on the approach to supporting wellbeing and the National Education Psychological Service (NEPS) is providing a range of supports in the context of the new public health arrangements in schools. These supports include:
• a webpage (gov.ie/backtoschool) with access to all information relating to the reopening of schools, including information about wellbeing, with links to specific resources, guidance and support
• Wellbeing Webinars for primary/special/post-primary schools - supporting wellbeing as schools return for first term
• Wellbeing Toolkits for Teachers with a range of easily downloadable, user-friendly materials
• Enhanced services for wellbeing provided by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), to include the wellbeing of all of our special school communities
Funding necessary for 120 additional guidance teacher posts and 17 NEPS psychologist posts under the Roadmap for the Re-opening of Schools has also been secured.
