Denise Mitchell
Question:574. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Education for an update on the case of a child (details supplied) who was approved for school transport in July 2023. [57323/23]
View answerSchool Transport
Questions (574)
Written answers
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils traveling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.
Under the terms of the Department's School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs, children are eligible for transport where they are attending the nearest recognised school that is or can be resourced to meet their special educational needs.
The National Council for Special Education through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) acts in an advisory role to the Department on the suitability of placements for children with special educational needs.
A pupil with special educational needs is eligible for school transport if they are attending the nearest recognised mainstream school, special class / special school or a unit, that is or can be resourced to meet the child's special educational needs under Department of Education criteria.
Eligibility is determined following consultation with the National Council for Special Education through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENO).
There was a 30% increase in the number of special educational transport journeys from 2019 to the 2022/2023 school year, and over 1,400 new applications have been received since July alone for the 2023/2024 school year.
I am pleased to advise that the pupil referred to by the Deputy is eligible under the terms of the scheme and a sanction has been sent by School Transport Section of my Department to Bus Éireann for the establishment of a new service for pupil to the school referred to by the Deputy. An escort sanction has also been provided to the school.
The School Transport team in Bus Éireann continue to prioritise sourcing contractors/drivers arrangements This is against a backdrop of significant shortages of drivers in the labour market in transport sectors nationally. Families will be contacted directly once a contractor and vehicle have been sourced for this route.
Both the Department and Bus Éireann are very conscious of the challenges faced by parents awaiting transport for students with special educational needs.
Families of children who are eligible for these services may therefore apply for the interim Special Transport Grant which is a once off payment, paid retrospectively to families once the School Transport service is in place and is to assist with the cost of private transport arrangements the family had put in place until services are finalised. The Family of the child referred have been contacted directly by School Transport Section of my Department, with an offer of the Special Transport Grant until the transport service commences.
Education Schemes
Questions (575)
Mairéad Farrell
Question:575. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Education the criteria for the STEM awards; if there is an appeal process; to detail the reason that no DEIS schools in Galway city received the awards; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57327/23]
View answerWritten answers
I can advise the Deputy that the awards per county were as follows;
|
Primary schools awarded grants by County |
|
Post-primary schools awarded grants by County |
|
|
Carlow |
6 |
Cavan |
2 |
|
Cavan |
7 |
Clare |
1 |
|
Clare |
10 |
Cork |
15 |
|
Cork |
43 |
Donegal |
2 |
|
Donegal |
17 |
Dublin |
18 |
|
Dublin |
80 |
Galway |
6 |
|
Galway |
36 |
Kildare |
1 |
|
Kerry |
18 |
Kilkenny |
2 |
|
Kildare |
7 |
Laois |
1 |
|
Kilkenny |
12 |
Longford |
1 |
|
Laois |
10 |
Louth |
6 |
|
Leitrim |
1 |
Mayo |
7 |
|
Limerick |
26 |
Meath |
2 |
|
Longford |
6 |
Monaghan |
2 |
|
Louth |
12 |
Offaly |
4 |
|
Mayo |
21 |
Roscommon |
2 |
|
Meath |
15 |
Sligo |
1 |
|
Monaghan |
5 |
Tipperary |
4 |
|
Offaly |
15 |
Waterford |
4 |
|
Roscommon |
13 |
Wexford |
5 |
|
Sligo |
9 |
Wicklow |
3 |
|
Tipperary |
25 |
|
|
|
Waterford |
9 |
|
|
|
Westmeath |
16 |
|
|
|
Wexford |
16 |
|
|
|
Wicklow |
8 |
|
|
In total there were 530 schools that received grants and of those 146 were DEIS schools. 42 schools in Galway which were a mix of DEIS and non-DEIS schools received grants.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) grant scheme was an action in the new STEM Education Implementation Plan published in 2023. The grant was to support schools in carrying out projects to stimulate an increased interest in STEM and included an application process as with other STEM initiatives in the past such as the STEM clusters project.
When the grant scheme was announced the Department indicated that it had funding of €1.5m available. There was phenomenal demand from schools with around 3,000 applications received. In order to determine the number of valid applications those received after the deadline were discounted. Every other application received before 5pm on the 30th of November was read and saved, leaving 2,727 schools with an ask amounting to over €25m.
When the grant scheme was announced the Department indicated that it had funding of €1.5m available. There was a phenomenal demand from schools with around 3,000 applications received. Every application received by the deadline of 5pm on the 30th November was read and processed, leaving 2,727 schools with an ask amounting of over €25m.
Given the very high number of valid applications and the budget available for the scheme, a decision was made by the Department to run a lottery, where a random number generator was used to pick out schools based on their line on the spreadsheet. The application for each school was then assessed on a case by case basis with the applications read again by the evaluation team, to ensure they met the requirements as set out in the grant call. Any school deemed not to have met the requirements was removed. The procedure was then repeated until all the budget available was allocated.
As the initial funding available at the time of call for applications was €1.5m, the Department worked to secure as much additional funding as possible, bringing the total available to €4.7m. Unfortunately, on this occasion, this additional funding fell short of the ask of over €25m. The Department is front loading the grant scheme in 2023/2024 school year and it is hoped that a further round of funding can be run this year. This means that eligible schools that were not successful this time may receive funding in the future.
It should be noted that the Department also supports STEM through other areas such as teacher professional development and the development of resources, as well as through supporting initiatives such as SciFest, ESB Science Blast, the Discover programme with Science Foundation Ireland and BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibititon.
School Textbooks
Questions (576)
Sorca Clarke
Question:576. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the estimated cost of introducing free school books to fifth and sixth year students, in tabular form. [57350/23]
View answerWritten answers
As Minister for Education, I believe it is crucially important that children and young people are actively supported to access education in its fullest forms. This Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families.
As part of Budget 2023, I announced a major investment of over €50 million to provide free schoolbooks in recognised primary schools and special schools. This was a landmark moment in Irish education and one that furthers our goal to provide free education for all and ensure that every child can benefit from free education.
The introduction of this measure directly addressed our commitment under the Programme for Government to commence a free schoolbooks scheme pilot in September 2020 and expand the scheme to schools nationwide, as resources allow.
To further the delivery of our important government commitment, I announced that funding is allocated under Budget 2024 to extend the free schoolbooks scheme to all students in junior cycle years in public post primary schools. The total funding available for this extension of the scheme is €67 million.
The grant for this scheme will be paid based on the previous year’s validated enrolment figures which, for the 2024/25 school year, will be the number of students enrolled in junior cycle for the current 2023/24 school year.
It is estimated that up to 213,000 students, in over 670 schools across all counties, will benefit from this new measure, which will commence from September 2024.
Guidance on the new junior cycle free schoolbooks scheme will be developed over the coming period as part of our engagement process with all stakeholders. The scheme will aim to ensure that value for money is achieved, and that schools will be supported to implement the scheme in a way that has the best learning outcomes for junior cycle students. Similar to the scheme at primary level, administrative supports will be provided to schools in order to roll out the scheme. Details of the funding, including the per capita rate and the administrative support element, will be set out in the guidance to schools.
As Minister for Education, I am acutely aware of the various costs faced by families upon the return of their children to school each September and am confident that this new provision will further and significantly reduce the back to school financial burden for many families.
Post primary schools will continue to receive the existing book grant for students in senior cycle years for the 2024/25 school year.
The extension of the free schoolbook scheme to senior cycle students will be considered as part of future budget negotiations and therefore this information is deemed budget confidential. On this basis we are unable to provide this information at present.