Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 October 2023
165. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Education the measures she will put in place to address the serious situation faced by a DEIS school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45714/23]
View answerMy Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential.
My Department now spends approximately €180million annually providing additional supports to the region of 1,200 schools in the DEIS programme. This includes an additional €32m allocated following my announcement to extend the programme to an additional 322 schools from last September. This now means that approximately 240,000 students or 1 in 4 of all students are now supported in the programme. During this enhancement the school in question was upgraded from Urban Band 2 to Urban Band 1. This brings added supports such as the allocation of additional classroom teachers. Schools in Urban Band 1 also are allocated an Administrative Principal and provided with access to HSCL/SCP supports, literacy/numeracy supports such as Reading Recovery, Maths Recovery, First Steps, Ready Set Go Maths as well as access to planning supports.
The DEIS Plan is based on the premise that in order to have the maximum possible impact on providing opportunities for students most at risk of educational disadvantage, then extra resources need to be targeted as closely as possible at those students with the greatest level of need. This will involve further development of the existing DEIS programme, to create a more dynamic resource allocation model where levels of resources more accurately follow the levels of need identified by objective data.
My Department is continuing to undertake work towards achieving its vision for an inclusive education system that supports all learners to achieve their potential. It also recognises that we need to target resources to those schools who need them most. That is why my Department is undertaking a programme of work to explore the allocation of resources to schools to address educational disadvantage. 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 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.
The OECD review is being complimented by a programme of work by my Department, which will look at reviewing individual resources and allocation approaches. This work will consider the allocation of resources within the DEIS programme. It will also seek to ensure that schools are supported to ensure every child has an equal opportunity to achieve their potential.
The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for individual school authorities, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24 of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012). In that regard there are more than 3,700 individual employers (boards of management of primary schools and post primary schools, as well as ETBs).
Ensuring that every child's experience in school is positive and that they have available to them qualified, engaged teachers to support them in their learning is a priority area of action for the Government. The Department of Education works with school management bodies, teacher unions and other education stakeholders in this regard
Budget 2024 contains a range of measures that demonstrates my commitment to continued investment in our education system. In addition to numerous actions I have taken in recent years to address teacher supply, a number of specific, targeted measures will be introduced with the new funding provided.
These include a professional masters of education (PME) incentive scheme, funding for additional teacher upskilling programmes, and increasing the number of posts of responsibility.
• Additional funding is being provided to introduce a professional masters of education (PME) incentive scheme. Those newly qualified teachers who graduate with a PME in 2024 will, subject to some conditions, be eligible for an incentive payment of up to €2,000. This incentive payment will be paid to eligible primary and post primary teachers in 2025. It will recognise the costs that PME students incur when completing their initial teacher education, assist them with these costs and encourage suitable candidates to consider a career in teaching.
• Additionally, funding will be provided to expand the number of upskilling programmes available. These programmes, which are free to teachers, increase the number of teachers who are qualified to teach in-demand subjects and reduce the level of out of field teaching. These new upskilling programmes in Irish, French, politics & society, and computer science will be in addition to existing upskilling programmes in maths, physics and Spanish.
• Also, additional posts of responsibility will be provided, with funding will be made available to provide 1,000 posts of responsibility in 2024. This is in recognition of the role that Assistant Principals play in improving educational outcomes by creating a positive school climate and environment, as well as motivating and empowering educators and learners within their school communities.
The Department is undertaking a comprehensive programme to support the supply of teachers. To support the supply of substitute teachers:
• Primary substitute teacher supply panels will continue to operate in 2023/24.
• Job-sharing teachers may be employed to work as substitutes during the period they are rostered off duty and the limits on substitute work applying to teachers on career break have been suspended.
• Post primary teachers can provide up to 35 additional hours substitute cover per term in the subject they are qualified to teach.
• 3rd year undergraduate teachers are eligible to apply for registration with the Teaching Council under registration Route 5 (Student Teachers). The registration process for student teachers is due to commence in October. More than 2,700 student teachers were registered under Route 5 last year.
• A waiver of abatement for retired teachers returning to teach for up to 50 days in each of the three calendar years 2021 to 2023 inclusive has been agreed with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP and Reform.
• Other measures include:
• The implementation of a pilot of the teacher sharing scheme in a small number of post primary schools. The pilot scheme will facilitate two schools to collaborate to provide high priority subjects, and to enhance the teaching hours available for those teachers employed on less than full hours.
• Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) who qualify outside Ireland and apply before 1 February 2024 will continue to be able to complete induction (Droichead) in Ireland. This measure seeks to enhance the supply of NQTs available to schools and is particularly relevant for Irish teachers who have studied and qualified abroad and who may wish to return to the Irish education sector.
• Following from the Department’s Action Plan on Teacher Supply, the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) operates a portal for the recruitment of teachers to long-term teaching positions. The portal facilitates the matching of demand and supply and provides an efficient and user-friendly recruitment process for both schools and teachers, including teachers working abroad who wish to apply for posts here.
• Turas Abhaile is an initiative of the post-primary school management bodies and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) which has assisted teachers based abroad to return teach in Ireland since September 2019. Turas Abhaile matches available post primary teachers with specific vacancies.
• Measures targeted at supporting the long-term supply needs of the system which are already in place include:
• At primary level, I approved 610 additional places on initial teacher education programmes over the next two academic years (2023/24 and 2024/25).
• At post-primary level, the Department has increased the number of places on teacher upskilling programmes in mathematics, Spanish and physics. The programmes are delivered outside of class time and are offered at no cost to the teacher. Approximately 170 places were provided in the first intake across the three programmes with an increase in places to over 300 in 2023. A new programme to upskill teachers in Irish is planned for 2024 and the Department is also considering additional upskilling programmes in other priority subject areas.
• The Teaching Transforms campaign continues to promote the teaching profession and encourage students to follow a career in teaching. The campaign uses digital, radio and video media, and is supported by a dedicated webpage, www.gov.ie/teachingtransforms.
The Department meets on a regular basis with the school management bodies and the teacher unions on this very important issue and we will continue to work intensively with all stakeholders to develop and implement creative solutions to address the teacher supply challenges facing schools.
