Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 July 2023
501. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Education the projected cost of ensuring every DEIS secondary school is funded for the provision of a JCSP library; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37009/23]
View answerThe Junior Certificate School Programme (JCSP) is a national programme sponsored by the Department of Education and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. Introduced in 1996, it is a social inclusion programme that is aimed at students who are identified as being at risk of being socially or academically isolated or at risk of early school leaving before the (then) Junior Certificate has been achieved.
Since its introduction, JCSP has expanded from 32 schools in 1996 to 240 schools in 2010. The programme expanded on a phased basis, to almost all post-primary schools participating in the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) in 2010. The JCSP is also offered in Special Schools, Children Detention Schools, Traveller Training Centres and Youth Encounter Projects (YEP).
Of the current 223 schools within JCSP, 173 are designated DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) and 50 are non-DEIS schools. There are currently 235 DIES post-primary schools in Ireland. There are 8 Gaelscoileanna, 2 High Support Units, 17 Special Schools and 4 YEP. 122 schools in JCSP are part of the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) network of schools throughout the country.
One of the initiatives under the JCSP is the JCSP Demonstration Library Project. School librarians work as part of a network of librarians in the JCSP Demonstration Library Project. Within the Demonstration Library Project, there are 32 professional librarians employed by the CDETB who are based in 30 schools that operate the library facility. They are managed by the Senior Librarian.
Librarians are responsible, together with key school staff, for drawing up and implementing library strategies to tackle the literacy difficulties experienced by many JCSP students. An important element of the JCSP is the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy which promotes a school approach and which incorporates the Library Demonstration Project. Each year, each library receives a grant from JCSP. The grant funds literacy and numeracy initiatives, book buying and resources for the library. Expenditure is approved in advance by the Senior Librarian. Funding of €2,500,311 was provided by my Department to the JCSP Demonstration Library Project in 2022 which included Librarians' salaries as well as funding for the other aspects of the programme which I have just outlined.
No projection has been made as to the cost of extending the provision of JCSP Demonstration Library Project to all DEIS schools. As part of the implementation of the Framework for Junior Cycle (2015), it was agreed to carry out a review of the JCSP and consider the extent to which the needs of students undertaking the JCSP are met through the Junior Cycle. This review is currently ongoing, with the programme closed to new applicants but current provision continuing for the present.
