Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2023
250. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Education further to Parliamentary Question No. 602 of 11 September 2023, (details supplied) if she will clarify if "individualised data is not available for primary pupils years prior to 2015"; and how do the patronage assessment reports from 2012, for example, have "detailed enrolment" data for individual schools by year (i.e. 6th class, etc.) for 2011-2012.". [41152/23]
View answerThe Primary Online Database (POD), which has been in place since 2015, is a live web based database which allows primary schools to manage and record enrolments in their schools. A school’s enrolment on the Census date, generally the end of September in a given academic year, is the basis for calculating the capitation grant due to the school. POD is also the means by which the Department tracks and generates enrolment statistics for the primary sector in Ireland.
When a pupil enrolls in a school as a new entrant, typically in Junior Infants, the school enters the pupil’s details on the POD system and a pupil record with a unique ID is created. This record is than validated, using the pupil’s PPSN number, against the Department of Social Protection’s database to ensure that as far as possible there are no duplicate records within the system. Currently 98% of POD records are validated.
Prior to the introduction of POD schools completed the National School Annual Census, this was an excel based census where schools returned relevant data regarding their enrolment and school. As part of this return schools provided the number of pupils per standard and per classroom, sample form attached, this data would then be available for Department reports and publications, such as the patronage assessment reports quoted.
Because personal pupil data and unique identifiers were not recorded prior to the introduction of POD it was not possible for the Department to track the movement of individual pupils between schools or from primary to post-primary. This is why it is not possible for us to produce data for years prior to 2016 for question no. 602.
