Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2022
550. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Education if officials in her Department, particularly REALT and uSupport, have considered correspondence from a school administrator (details supplied) in terms of the school having capacity to accommodate Ukrainian children, displaced by war, living in the nearby town of Ennis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37559/22]
View answerI can confirm that correspondence has recently been received by my Department from the school referred to by the Deputy in relation to this matter and is currently being considered. The school’s correspondence was also forwarded to the relevant Regional Education and Language Teams (REALT) for their information.
REALTs have been established to help ensure good coordination and alignment of supports for Ukrainian children arriving in Ireland. These REALTs are hosted by the 16 regional education and training boards (ETBs) and are staffed by existing regionally-based education support personnel working closely together to ensure good coordination and alignment of supports for Ukrainian children. My Department is liaising with the teams to ensure all necessary supports for the Ukrainian children are provided as quickly as possible.
The primary role of the REALT is to build on existing regional education support structures and the initial focus is on assisting families in securing school places. REALTs also support schools in the area to meet the needs of these children as they emerge, to advise and support my Department in developing new capacity where required, and to co-ordinate the provision of education services to schools and families across their defined area.
These teams ensure that clear, accessible information flows are in place between schools, local education support services and national support structures in relation to people arriving from Ukraine.
I am advised that the REALT team in Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB) are liaising with the school authorities in question on a regular basis regarding enrolments in the Ennis area since contact was made with the team on Thursday, 30 June 2022.
Where the demand for places in the primary schools adjacent to the accommodation centres of Ukrainian children residing in Ennis exceeds the capacity of these schools, families will be advised of the availability of school places outside of Ennis by the REALT team.
If Ukrainian families are accommodated in close proximity to this school, they can of course, request to enrol their children in the school.
The REALT team in LCETB will continue to support any Ukrainian family who require school places and liaise with this school in question as the need arises.
Recent surveys have been carried out at Primary and Post-Primary level on potential capacity and my Department has incorporated this information with other information in the Geographical Information System (GIS) to enable prompt identification of potential capacity near accommodation centres of Ukrainian arrivals through the use of a Community Analyst reporting system. This information has been made available to all REALT’s to support and assist their work.
Utilisation of each school’s existing capacity in the most flexible way possible will be key to supporting Ukrainian children who are being enrolled in our schools. The capacity offered by the school being referred to will be considered by the relevant REALT in conjunction with the capacity of all other schools in the relevant school planning area in relation to the placement of Ukrainian children seeking school places for the next academic year.
