Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2023
348. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education if her Department can assist to bridge the cost of placing a child in a boarding school in instances in which home schooling is not available and the appeals process in respect of a school place has been exhausted to the point where the child has no school to enrol in. [55248/23]
View answerMy Department is not in a position to assist with the provision of individual boarding grants for students. However, Tusla Education Support Service can provide support to parents to apply for home tuition if their child is without a school placement.
My Department published Circulars 0024/2023 and 0031/2023 on gov.ie - Home Tuition (www.gov.ie) detailing the Home Tuition provisions for children without a school place.
The purpose of my Department's Home Tuition Grant Scheme is to provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school. For children without a school place my Department administers Home Tuition schemes for:
a. Students with special educational needs seeking an educational placement in a recognised school
b. Students who are temporarily without a school place, is without an offer of a school place and is actively seeking a school placement in a recognised school
Home tuition is not an alternative to a school placement and is provided in very limited and specific circumstances. By its nature, it is intended to be a short term educational intervention. It is provided as an interim measure only for children for whom a placement in a recognised school is not available and should not be regarded as an optional alternative to a school placement. Home tutors are engaged by the parents/guardians of the child who is to receive the tuition.
My Department funds the cost of tuition provided where this complies fully with the terms of the approval for the scheme. It is a condition of grant funding that tutors engaged by parents are registered with and recognised by the Teaching Council of Ireland. All teachers currently registered with the Teaching Council of Ireland are vetted by the National Vetting Bureau. It is the responsibility of the parent/legal guardian to source a tutor at the earliest possible opportunity to allow for applications for registration/vetting to be made by the tutor to the Teaching Council, if necessary.
This Department does not keep lists of tutors available to carry out home tuition. It may be helpful to contact local schools in the first instance, or alternatively, the Department is aware that many parents use education provider websites to advertise for tutors.
Additionally, to help parents source a home tutor for this scheme in their local area, the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) has created a Home Tuition Noticeboard for Parents to help them source a suitable candidates. This noticeboard is available on www.educationposts.ie.
Educational Welfare Officers are available to assist parents in applying for home tuition.
Application forms for scheme a) above are available from the gov.ie website gov.ie - Home Tuition (www.gov.ie).
Application forms for scheme b) grant scheme are available from the local Educational Welfare Officer (EWO)/or the appointed social worker. Contact details for the EWO’s in a specific area can be obtained from the following website at www.tusla.ie/get-in-touch/education-and-welfare/#EWO.
Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 as inserted by Section 7 of the Education (Admissions to schools) Act 2018 provides for an appeal, where a board of management, or a person acting on behalf of the board of management (normally the school principal) refuses to admit a student to a school, suspends a student for not less than 20 days or permanently excludes a student.
Section 29 D of this legislation provides for an oral hearing to be provided in circumstances where the appeal taken relates to a suspension of not less than 20 days, a permanent exclusion and a refusal to enrol decision that is for reasons other than oversubscription.
Section 29 E of the legislation provides that any appeal taken in respect of refused enrolment due to oversubscription, will be considered without an oral hearing.
Each appeal type, both oral and paper based is considered and determined by a three person appeal committee, appointed by me, as Minister, in accordance with Section 29 A(1) of the Act.
Within each appeal type, there is a provision for the hearing committee to allow or disallow or refuse to hear or determine the appeal before them. Section 29D, E and F outline the considerations that the appeals committee must make in determining each appeal. An appeal committee of three persons is appointed to consider each appeal.
The Section 29 Appeals Committee are statutory decision making bodies under the Education Act 1998 (as amended) and the Department does not decide on matters relating to how an appeal is conducted or the decision that may be made by them.
