Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 July 2022
128. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Education the total funding allocated by her Department to schools, both primary and secondary, to fund the specific promotion of physical health, fitness and well-being for students for each of the years 2018 to date in 2022, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36516/22]
View answerThe funding allocated to my Department, as set down in the annual Estimates, is used to meet costs associated with the provision of educational services in our schools and various related functions and includes salaries of teaching and non-teaching school staff, development of school infrastructure, capitation funding, grant payments to Education and Training Boards and a range of programmes and initiatives. Funding specifically for the promotion of physical health, fitness and well-being for students is not identified separately within allocations, as is the case also for other areas of the curriculum.
I can assure the Deputy that these core curriculum areas are addressed across all school stages.
In regard to PE, this is one of seven curriculum areas within the Primary School Curriculum, while in Junior Cycle it is recognised as part of the Well-being area of learning. At Senior Cycle, PE is available through both the examinable subject, Leaving Certificate PE (LCPE), and the non-examinable subject, Senior Cycle PE. Across primary, Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle level the SPHE curriculum area aims to foster personal development, health, well-being and enable young people to make healthy decisions as appropriate to the various stages.
Provision of physical facilities for PE and sports forms part of the accommodation brief for all new school buildings or where a major building or refurbishment project is being delivered for an existing school. Furthermore, the Government is committed to a PE Hall build and modernisation programme, starting in the second half of the National Development Plan period. This will see an increasing focus on the upgrade and refurbishment of the existing school stock to ensure that students in all post-primary schools have access to appropriate facilities to support PE provision.
The Active School Flag initiative in primary schools and the new Active School Flag Post Primary currently being piloted also address the goal of achieving a physically educated and physically active school community.
I want to assure the Deputy that my Department is fully committed to ensuring that Well-being is at the core of the ethos of all schools in Ireland, through the implementation of the Well-being Policy Statement. This whole school and preventative approach has multiple components that include providing children and young people with opportunities to build core social and emotional skills and competencies, experience supportive relationships within the school setting and be part of a school environment and culture that feels both physically and psychologically safe, in which they feel a sense of belonging and connectedness, that their voice is heard, and they feel supported. Embedded in the whole-school approach is the recognition that members of the school community may have different needs at different times and that a continuum of support in relation to well-being should be made available.
Work is now ongoing to realise the vision set out in the Well-being Policy. Following an action research project involving 30 schools, the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) has developed Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to support schools as they engage in a well-being promotion process. The national rollout of CPD commenced in March 2022 and is available to all schools. A dedicated well-being portal has been developed on gov.ie making available all well-being supports and resources developed.
