Seán Canney
Question:73. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education when the review of the HSCL programme is due to start; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53943/23]
View answerWednesday, 6 December 2023
Questions (73)
Written answers
My 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.
Supplementing the universal supports available to all schools, the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Programme is a key policy initiative of my Department to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level in a targeted and equitable way across the primary and post-primary sector.
In March last year, I announced the single largest expansion of the DEIS programme. This benefited 361 schools. The programme now includes in the region of 1,200 schools and supports approximately 240,000 students. 1 in 4 students and 30% of schools are now supported in the programme.
This expansion added an additional €32million to my Department’s expenditure on the DEIS programme from 2023, bringing the overall Department of Education allocation for the programme to €180million.
The Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme is one of a range of resources allocated under the DEIS school support programme. Currently, all DEIS Urban Primary and Post Primary schools are included in the HSCL scheme, which serves 687 DEIS schools. The scheme is delivered by 528 full-time HSCL Coordinators, who are teachers in these schools and assigned to HSCL duties either in individual schools or in clusters of schools, catering for approximately 207,000 pupils.
My Department is continuing to undertake work towards achieving its vision for an inclusive education system which supports all learners to achieve their potential. It also recognises that we need to target resources to those schools who need them most. 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 are engaging with a range of relevant stakeholders to inform the review process as well as drawing on international examples. The OECD estimates that the review will be completed in Q2 2024.
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 is currently underway and includes the HSCL scheme within its scope. This work will involve consultation with a range of relevant stakeholders. It will also seek to ensure that schools are supported to ensure every child has an equal opportunity to achieve their potential.