Written Answers Nos. 742-750
742. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Education if it will be ensured that a school (details supplied) receives additional SNA hours to supply the full level of supports that are necessary for all the students who require SNA assistance in the school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63503/21]
View answerThe NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) and reviews. The NCSE have published the SNA allocations on their website www.ncse.ie.
The SNA scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support is provided in order to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or for their peers, and with a view to developing their independent living skills.
SNAs are not allocated to individual children but to schools as a school based resource. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual Principal/Board of Management of the school. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school based on the principle that those with the greatest needs receive the greatest level of support. Guidance is available to schools on the allocation of SNA support within the schools, SNA allocations for special classes and special schools are not affected by this arrangement.
Circular 0029/2021 has been published and advises schools of the arrangements for the allocation of SNAs for the 2021/22 school year. Furthermore, provisions set out in Circular 0030/2020 has been extended for the 2021/22 school year. Circulars 29/2021 and 30/2020 are available on the Gov.ie website: www.gov.ie/en/circulars/?organisation=department-of-education
With regards to the school as outlined in the details supplied, the NCSE confirmed that the school’s mainstream allocation included an increase of .75 of a post received on foot of an SNA Exceptional Review application made in the preceding 2020/21 school year. The NCSE have further confirmed no application for an SNA Exceptional Review has been received to date from the school for the current 2021/22 school year.
My Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations. Accordingly your correspondence has been forwarded to the NCSE for direct reply.
743. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education when a lease will be finalised in respect of a school (details supplied) in County Mayo; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63518/21]
View answerAs you will be aware, the Chief State Solicitors Office, on behalf of my Department, has been engaging with the property owners’ legal representative on the draft lease for some time and the vast majority of the clauses in the draft lease are agreed.
My Department has also engaged directly with the property owners’ legal representative with a view to facilitating agreement on the small few outstanding terms of the draft lease, so that the lease can be progressed.
To address the outstanding terms of the draft lease my Department arranged for a schedule of condition report on the existing building from the school’s architect. This report has been received and is under consideration by my Department.
744. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education if survivors had to have been in receipt of an award from the Residential Institutions Redress Board to qualify to apply to Caranua for redress; the reason the total awards paid through Caranua are 57,161 and through the Residential Institutions Redress Board only 16,657 (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63563/21]
View answerUnder the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012, Caranua could provide supports to individuals who had either received an award of redress from the Residential Institutions Redress Board (RIRB) or a similar court award or settlement.
The 2012 Act provided that Caranua could provide supports in areas such as health, housing and education, and applicants could make multiple applications to Caranua under each of these various headings. Each applicant could therefore receive multiple payments from Caranua.
Since its establishment, Caranua received over 62,000 applications for funding supports from over 6,000 eligible survivors and made over 57,000 payments to survivors totalling almost €98 million.
745. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Education if she will abandon the proposed changes to the leaving certificate Irish curriculum considering that it would discriminate against students who attend Irish language medium education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63566/21]
View answerConsultation by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) on new draft specifications for Leaving Certificate Irish has recently closed. The current development of draft specifications for Leaving Certificate Irish is part of the ongoing cycle of curriculum review and redevelopment.
The NCCA has developed draft L1 and L2 curriculum specifications for Leaving Certificate Irish. The L1 specification is aimed at students in Irish medium schools including native speakers and the L2 specification is aimed at students in English medium schools where Irish is taught as a second language. Schools participating in the Gaeltacht recognition scheme will be required to provide at least the L1 specification and English medium schools will have the option of providing the L1 and/or the L2 depending on the needs of students.
The model of curricular provision provided for in the draft specifications reflects the provision made for Irish in Irish-medium (L1) and in English-medium (L2) schools at primary and junior cycle levels, and provides learners with continuity in their Irish language learning experience, addressing their language learning needs as they progress along their Irish language learning journey in specific settings.
In response to concerns raised and requests made by some education stakeholders the NCCA extended the timeframe for the consultation on the Leaving Certificate Irish specifications from the end of August 2021 to 30 November 2021 in order to facilitate greater stakeholder engagement in the process. This extension of the closing date has also allowed the NCCA to commence an early enactment review of the Junior Cycle Irish L1 and L2 specifications.
Following the consultation closing date for the draft Leaving Certificate specifications the NCCA commences analysis and consideration of the feedback recorded during the process. It is important to note that the published specification documents are draft and subject to change in the light of the outcomes of this consultation process. The finalised specifications will then be considered by the NCCA Council and if approved, submitted to my Department for consideration, approval and implementation.
746. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education if she will approve DEIS status for a school (details supplied). [63573/21]
View answerBudget 2022 has provided for an allocation of €18million for 2022 and €32million for 2023 to extend the DEIS programme to further schools with the highest levels of disadvantage. This represents an increase of over 20% in funding for the DEIS programme and will enable an expansion in 2022 to additional schools.
This package follows an extensive body of work which has been under taken by the DEIS technical group in relation to the development of a model to identify the concentrated levels of disadvantage of schools. The refined DEIS ID model is an objective, statistics based process, based on school enrolment data and data available from Census 2016 under the HP Deprivation Index. It is important to note that there is no application process for the DEIS programme and all schools will be considered under the refined DEIS model when it is applied.
747. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Education the status of the proposed expansion of the DEIS scheme; the criteria for inclusion on the expanded scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63583/21]
View answerBudget 2022 has provided for an allocation of €18million for 2022 and €32million for 2023 to extend the DEIS programme to further schools with the highest levels of disadvantage. This represents an increase of over 20% in funding for the DEIS programme and will enable an expansion in 2022 to additional schools.
This package follows an extensive body of work which has been under taken by the DEIS technical group in relation to the development of a model to identify the concentrated levels of disadvantage of schools. The refined DEIS ID model is an objective, statistics based process, based on school enrolment data and data available from Census 2016 under the HP Deprivation Index. It is important to note that there is no application process for the DEIS programme and all schools will be considered under the refined DEIS model when it is applied.
748. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Education the status of a building project for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63589/21]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, this project has been devolved for delivery to Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB).
I am pleased to confirm that a design team to deliver this project has been appointed by the ETB. The Design Team is now preparing the Stage 1 report (preliminary design).
While at this early stage it is not possible to provide a timeline for completion of the project, WWETB will be engaging directly with the school authority to keep it informed of progress.
749. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Education her plans for reviewing the minimum qualification for special needs assistants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63603/21]
View answerSpecial Needs Assistants (SNAs) play a huge role in helping to ensure the inclusion of pupils with significant care needs in education and in school life. This was acknowledged in the Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme (SNAs) published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018.
The Review made a number of recommendations regarding SNAs including referencing the training needs of SNAs. In this regard, the NCSE recommended that a new national training programme at Level 5 of the National Qualification Framework be developed for existing SNAs who do not have the requisite level of training and for new SNAs on appointment. The NCSE also recommended that training tailored to the specific complex needs of some students being cared for by SNAs would also be provided.
The policy advice has been considered by the Department. It was decided that priority should be given to the development of a training programme for SNAs who may not have had a recent opportunity to access a training programme tailored to their role. The new first national training course for SNAs provided by UCD aims to enhance the knowledge, skills and expertise of SNAs whose work is central to the inclusion of students with additional care and complex needs in school life. The programme is fully funded by the Department and delivered at no cost to the SNA.
This is the first national training programme for SNAs employed in schools and is tailored to their needs. As this is the first programme, it is appropriate to take the time to review outcomes which will inform the future approach to ongoing training and professional development of SNAs. Part of that consideration will include accreditation.
Raising the minimum qualification for appointment as a special needs assistant has been referred to the Workplace Relations Commission and the Department has been engaging in that process.
The recruitment and appointment of Special Needs Assistants is a matter for the individual school authority and the Department's circular 36/2020 and 51/2019 sets out the current educational requirements for appointment as a Special Needs Assistant (SNA). In addition, the actual requirements for a post will vary depending on the specific needs of the children and the school to which the SNA is to be appointed. The Department does not believe that the existing minimum qualifications has impacted on the calibre of person appointed and it is also the case that people with experience and/or higher qualifications than the minimum are often the successful candidate in competitions held by schools.
However, having considered the claim and, in particular, the period of time since they were set, the Department is open to reviewing the position. However, the Department is not yet in a position to indicate when that review might take place but is of the view that the forthcoming review of the SNA contract proposed as part of the Building Momentum national pay agreement should be carried out and implemented first.
750. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Education if her Department will consider launching a campaign in schools advising of the health dangers of obesity and measures of prevention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63614/21]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, my Department works together with the Department of Health and other agencies to support students in area of health. My Department acknowledges the commitment of schools in promoting healthy lifestyle choices for students in a number of ways - the curriculum – for example Physical Education and Social Personal Health Education (SPHE); through schools policy including healthy lunch policies and by the use of resources and programmes chosen by the school. The Active School Flag (ASF) is one such programme. Work by my Department in this area aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge to enable them to make the right choices for healthy lifestyles throughout their lives.
My Department supports Agri Aware’s Incredible Edibles programme, a healthy eating initiative for Primary School pupils. The programme is also supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Health. It encourages schools across the country to grow carrots, lettuce, potatoes, strawberries, turnips and herbs. Schools are supplied with grow packs, activity sheets and videos containing everything needed to grow these foods.
The Food Dudes Programme is a healthy eating programme developed to encourage children to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables. It is implemented in primary schools and is based on repeated tastings of fruit and vegetables supported by positive role modelling and rewards. The Food Dudes Programme is currently being implemented in Ireland under an EU six-year strategy framework covering the period 1 August 2017-July 2023.
Throughout school, our young people are educated about the dangers of eating food which is unhealthy during their primary and second level education. The Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme is a mandatory part of the curriculum in primary schools and in junior cycle. The programme is supported by comprehensive teacher guidelines and curriculum support services, which
provide training and advice for schools, and also a resource directory.
At primary level, one of the SPHE strand units 'Taking care of my body' specifically addresses the need for regular exercise and activity as well as the area of nutrition and food and the need for a balanced diet. This unit is built upon from Infant classes onwards. By Fifth and Sixth classes, children are encouraged to realise and accept responsibility for making wise food choices and for adopting a healthy, balanced diet, and in that, exploring and examining the food pyramid.
