Skip to main content
Normal View

Ukraine War

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 March 2022

Thursday, 24 March 2022

Questions (250, 251, 252)

Cathal Crowe

Question:

250. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Education the steps that her Department is taking to ensure that schools across the country are adequately equipped with teachers, accommodation, furniture, schoolbooks, special needs assistants and so on, to cater for the influx of Ukrainian children that will be entering their schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15569/22]

View answer

Cathal Crowe

Question:

251. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Education if she will consider allocating Departmental staff as coordinators to oversee the even distribution of Ukrainian children to primary and secondary schools across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15570/22]

View answer

Cathal Crowe

Question:

252. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Education if her Department will in conjunction with the Teaching Council of Ireland fast-track the registration of Ukrainian-trained teachers to help assimilate the Ukrainian children who will be taking up positions in schools. [15573/22]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 250 to 252, inclusive, together.

The war in Ukraine has caused a humanitarian crisis and the Government is committed to welcoming people fleeing war in Ukraine and seeking protection in Ireland.

My Department is working with all relevant authorities, education partners and school communities to ensure Ukrainian children of school-going age who are beneficiaries of the Temporary Protection Directive are provided with access to appropriate supports to allow them to continue their education in Ireland.

Our schools have a strong tradition of welcoming children of all nationalities and backgrounds and have experience of doing this throughout the school year. As the Deputy will know, we already support a linguistically and culturally diverse community in Ireland.

My Department is responding to immediate needs through the provision of school places locally as need arises, and planning for the medium and long-term in alignment with the whole of Government approach, having regard to the need for rapidity and scale.

There is a helpline for schools who have queries regarding Ukrainian students, and my Department will be sharing information online and on social media for parents in relevant languages to support them in accessing schooling for children.

The utilisation of capacity within existing schools across the country will be a very important aspect for addressing the need for education provision for Ukrainian children. My Department already has data on capacity and under/over subscription at individual schools from its National Inventory of School Capacity based on schools’ annual enrolment returns, and utilises its Geographic Information System to facilitate spatial analysis of this and other data.

At both primary and post-primary level there are significant variances in available capacity at local and regional level across the country, in both rural and urban areas. Ultimately, the location of the accommodation provided for the Ukrainian families will be relevant in maximising the utilisation of existing school capacity to meet their education needs and my Department is coordinating with other Government Departments in this respect, with a view to ensuring alignment of our planning processes as much as possible.

Schools with available capacity to accommodate arriving Ukrainian children will be supported with the provision of additional furniture where that is required. My Department already provides additional allocations for schools with high concentration of pupils that require language support. If a school has additional needs arising from the usual requirement, the school can apply for additional supports.

The Teacher Education Support Services are also prioritising requests from schools who are enrolling children coming from Ukraine.

A working group has been formed to consider language and cultural resources and supports for teachers and schools. The group includes representatives of the Department (including NEPs), its inspectorate, the teacher education support services, the NCCA and the ETB sector.

The group is assessing and sharing existing relevant resources and supports, and identifying any gaps which need to be addressed through the provision of additional resources and supports both in the short term and over the medium to longer term. All relevant resources and supports are currently being collated and made available on one central website for schools and teachers to access. New CPD supports are being designed and developed also and will be made available to schools and teachers shortly.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has published a range of resources to support learners with English as an additional language (EAL) across Early Childhood, Primary and Post-Primary. These materials aim to support teachers and early childhood practitioners to nurture the language development of EAL learners. Further guidance about these resources will issue to schools shortly.

The Teaching Council is working closely with the Department to assist and prioritise the registration of any Ukrainian nationals who arrive in Ireland and who are teachers. Arrangements to support the registration of Ukrainian teachers by providing a streamlined process and reasonable accommodations are being put in place. A dedicated email address ukrainianteachers@teachingcouncil.ie has been set up and Ukrainian teachers are encouraged to use this to get advice and assistance from the Council.

Question No. 251 answered with Question No. 250.
Question No. 252 answered with Question No. 250.
Top
Share