Brendan Smith
Question:787. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education the proposals, if any, there are to expand the school completion programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39424/23]
View answerMonday, 11 September 2023
Questions (787)
Written answers
There are currently 122 projects included in the SCP, which forms part of the Tusla Education Support Service (TESS). Funding for SCP is provided by my Department via TESS, and TESS have responsibility for oversight of SCP.
The programme is a central element of the DEIS plan (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), a key policy initiative of my Department to address educational disadvantage at school level.
Since responsibility for the administration of the SCP transferred back from the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to my Department in January 2021, I have secured additional funding to provide for an extension of SCP supports to 28 additional schools that were included in DEIS for the first time in September 2017, and a 5% overall increase in funding for the School Completion Programme, effective from September 2021. In addition, I negotiated a further increase of 5% for SCP under Budget 2023. This complements the recent expansion of the DEIS programme announced by me in 2022.
A programme of work to explore the allocation of resources to schools to address educational disadvantage is currently being undertaken by my Department. To support this work, my Department have invited the OECD Strength Through Diversity: Education for Inclusive Societies Project to review the current policy approach for the allocation of resources to support students at risk of educational disadvantage in Ireland. This review will provide an independent expert opinion on the current resource allocation model for the DEIS programme which will include the SCP and, drawing on international examples, inform a policy approach for an equitable distribution of supplementary resources to support students at risk of educational disadvantage attending all schools, both DEIS and non-DEIS.