Written Answers Nos. 655-667
655. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education further to Parliamentary Question No. 614 of 21 March 2023, the status of the work referred to relating to school caretakers; and when this work will be progressed and completed. [1568/24]
View answer656. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education what plans are in place to ensure school caretakers will be afforded the opportunity to avail of a similar deal as school secretaries. [1569/24]
View answer657. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education to provide an update on any recent engagements her Department has had with a union (details supplied) with regard to school caretakers. [1570/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 655, 656 and 657 together.
Caretakers are valued and vital members of the school system. The majority of primary and post-primary schools receive assistance to provide for caretaker services under grant schemes. Where a school employs a caretaker under these grant schemes to support those functions, those staff members are employees of the individual schools and as such the responsibility for the terms and conditions of employment currently rests with the school.
The February 2022 agreement for revised salary and annual leave entitlements for grant funded school secretaries is now fully operational, and the lessons learned from that process will form a key element in negotiating and implementing a similar package for grant funded school caretakers.
At present work is ongoing in my Department to develop a comprehensive survey which will enable my officials to confirm their understanding of the current working patterns as well as the terms and conditions of work for school caretakers. In parallel with this, officials from the Department and Fórsa are currently in communication on this important issue and anticipate that a meeting will be scheduled in the near future to progress the matter.
658. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education when a local school place in Naas will be provided to a student (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1582/24]
View answerI can assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority for the Department.
My Department is aware of pressures for school places for the 2024/25 school year in Naas.
A critical next step for my Department is to establish the actual number of additional first year places required for 2024 in order for an appropriate solution to be put in place. In that context, schools in a number of areas of enrolment pressure, including Naas, have been requested to share data on applications for admissions. This data has been received by my officials and is currently being analysed with a view to establishing the actual requirement for places. Preliminary assessments indicate that duplications of applications, and applications from outside the local area, are very much contributing to enrolment pressures in Naas.
My Department is working to clarify the actual requirement for additional school places and to identify particular further capacity requirements for 2024 and forthcoming years. My Department will engage with schools and patrons to put any required solutions in place - beyond those that are already in train - to ensure sufficient school places to meet the needs of students in the area.
My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.
Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.
The Department does not seek to intervene in the selection criterion that is applied by schools.
Where a board of management make a decision to refuse admission, a parent/guardian can appeal that decision under Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998, and an independent appeals committee will be appointed to consider the appeal. The role of the Section 29 hearing committee is to examine the application for enrolment and consider if it was correctly processed by the school, in accordance with the school’s Enrolment Policy.
This Department has no authority to compel a school to admit a student, except in circumstances where an appeal under Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 has been allowed and the appeals committee directs that the school admit the child concerned.
As you are aware, section 29 of the Education Act, 2008, as amended by Education (Admissions to Schools) Act 2018, provides for a paper based appeal to be considered by an independent appeals committee appointed by the Minister for Education, in circumstances where a parent has been refused enrolment due to oversubscription.
My Department is working to establish the true extent of any capacity issues across school planning areas through ongoing discussions with the relevant school patrons and authorities.
This close engagement will allow my Department to identify particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming years which may necessitate further action to that already in train including, where required, the provision of modular accommodation solutions.
The Educational Welfare Services (EWS) of the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) is the statutory agency that can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The local service is delivered through the national network of Educational Welfare Officers (EWO). Contact details are available at www.tusla.ie/get-in-touch/education-and-welfare/
659. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Education to provide a list of second level education institutions aided by her Department, that did not provide applied mathematics for the Leaving Certificate in 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2022, in tabular form. [1588/24]
View answerThe information that the Deputy requested is set out in tabular form in the attached spreadsheets. The information is based on the annual October Returns which were submitted to the Department by Post Primary schools.
Schools that did not provide applied maths in academic year 2015-16
Schools that did not provide applied maths in academic year 2005-6
Schools that did not provide applied maths in academic year 2021-2
Schools that did not provide applied maths in academic year 2010-11
660. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education when a survivor (details supplied) will receive housing supports and the owed services as promised; if she can provide an update on this particular case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1590/24]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, Caranua was established in 2013 to disburse the contributions of €110m (€111.38m including interest) provided by the religious congregations following the publication of the Ryan Report by funding approved services to support the needs of former residents who, as children, suffered abuse in relevant institutions.
As the funding available to Caranua was finite in nature, Caranua announced in May 2018 that it would cease to accept applications from 1 August 2018. All outstanding applications were finalised by Caranua by March 2021 and my Department is not in a position to re-open applications or undertake functions on behalf of Caranua.
However, my Department is aware of the particularly difficult and complex circumstances of the individual concerned, who received funding supports from Caranua, and has been engaging with him and with other relevant parties to assist in identifying a path forward.
662. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education if the position of administration school principal will be retained at a school (details supplied) in Kilkenny until such time as the building works are completed.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1601/24]
View answerThe allocation of an Administrative Principal is based on the enrolment in the school. The thresholds are set out in Appendix B of the staffing circular each year. Where a school with an administrative principal, such as the one referred to by the Deputy, has maintained the required enrolment on the previous 30th September, the additional position will be retained.
Staffing arrangements for the 2024/25 school year will be published in the coming weeks and at that stage, schools will be able to establish their staffing for the coming year.
663. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Education if she will provide an update regarding the temporary accommodation committed to for a school (details supplied) in Blessington; the estimated timeline for the completion of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1607/24]
View answerI am pleased to advise the Deputy that approval under the Additional School Accommodation scheme has issued to the school authority in question for the provision of six classrooms.
The project is being delivered under the Department’s Devolved SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme. This programme provides project management supports to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and helps to ease the administrative workload for individual schools in relation to the management and delivery of the project. This project is currently on site with an expected completion date in Q1 of this year.
My Department is fully aware of the urgency in respect of completion of this project and is working with the Project managers and the school authority to ensure current targets are met.
664. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Education the position regarding the permanent school building for a school (details supplied); the timeline for the start date for construction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1608/24]
View answerThe project to which the Deputy refers, is devolved for delivery to Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB). The large scale project provides for an extension to the existing school, the demolition of a section of the building and the refurbishment of some of the existing buildings.
My Department approved a submission from the school authority to increase the original brief in the context of a significant increase in projected new enrolments in the area. This allowed for a project to cater for a 1,000 pupil school plus 6 special education needs classes.
A planning application was submitted to Wicklow County Council who have requested further information, which the Design Team are currently in the process of procuring the additional surveys requested. KWETB will submit the Stage 2b report for review once the necessary statutory planning permissions have been obtained.
At this stage, it is not possible to provide an accurate timeline for completion of the project. KWETB will continue to engage directly with the school authority to keep it informed of progress.
665. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Education her plans to provide supports for STEM projects to DEIS schools that were not successful in applying for the €4.7 million STEM grants announced by her Department in December 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1610/24]
View answerI can advise the Deputy that the STEM grant scheme was for all primary, post-primary and special schools within the free education system including DEIS. Given the 2,727 valid applications with asks of over €25m and the total funding available of €4.7m, a decision was made by my Department to run a lottery. The proposals were selected by lottery with the applications assessed on a case by case basis where they were read again by the evaluation team, to ensure they met the requirements as set out in the grant call.
In total there were 530 schools that were awarded grants and of those 146 were DEIS schools.
The Department of Education’s STEM Education Policy Statement 2017–2026 sets out the roadmap for STEM education across early learning and care, primary and post-primary schools, with ambitious goals and actions that are required to achieve and improve the STEM education experience and outcomes for all learners, and to support learners to progress to STEM pathways in Further or Higher Education and the world of work.
Under the Policy Statement my Department continues to provide support for all STEM learners including
• partnership with Science Foundation Ireland to support education and public engagement projects in STEM through the SFI Discover Programme. This includes The All-Ireland STEM Passport for Inclusion programme which is a joint initiative by Maynooth University, Microsoft Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and the Department of Education that addresses inequalities in access to STEM careers among secondary school students in socially disadvantaged communities
• STEM related curricular reform at both primary and post-primary level
• ongoing provision of STEM professional development by the Department of Education support services
• focus on increasing the uptake of STEM subjects and to enhance STEM learning for learners of all backgrounds, abilities and gender, with a particular focus on uptake by females
• development and publication of guidelines for STEM partnerships between schools and business/industry
• development of the SFI ‘Curious Minds’ programme and
• ongoing support of informal STEM education projects such as Scifest, BTYSTE, Science Blast and iWish.
• The STEM grant scheme was an action in the new STEM Education Implementation Plan published in 2023. All schools are implementing the curriculum which includes STEM. 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. As with previous grant schemes such as the STEM clusters, ESD grants and creative clusters, schools were invited to apply and were informed at the outset of the total funding available for this scheme.
• 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.
• I am aware of the time and effort that was put in by schools to the application process and the frustration felt by the schools, however, there was limited money available to my Department. In relation to any future funding that becomes available, the Department will be in contact with schools.
666. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Education if all applications made by schools for funding under the STEM grant awards announced in December 2023 were fully read and objectively assessed by her Department; the reason her Department used a lottery system to allocate funding under this scheme; if she will accept that the scheme is underfunded based on the level of applications; if she plans to revisit the scheme and to make additional resources available to it based on clear demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1624/24]
View answerI can advise the Deputy that the 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 €1.5 million available. There was a phenomenal demand from schools with around 3,000 applications received. Every application received by the deadline of 5 p.m. on 30 November was read and processed, leaving 2,727 schools with an ask amounting of over €25 million.
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.
My 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.
I am aware of the time and effort that was put in by schools the application process and the frustration felt by the schools however there was limited money available to my Department. The Department will be in contact with schools in relation to any future funding that becomes available.
667. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education if she will provide an up-to-date map, in pdf form, of the school catchment areas for Dublin Bay north; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1644/24]
View answerUnder the Education Act 1998, the question of enrolment policy in individual schools, including the setting of catchment areas, is the responsibility of the Board of Management on behalf of the school patron. The selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice. The Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 requires schools to clearly set out their selection criteria in their admission policies. Schools have discretion in relation to their admission criteria and how they are applied. Living in a particular catchment area is one criteria that a school may apply. The criteria to be applied by schools and the order of priority are a matter for the schools themselves. My Department does not intervene in the criteria set by a school.
My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area.
In order to plan for school provision and to analyse the relevant demographic data, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, including Child Benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level.
New schools established since 2011 to meet demographic demand are required, in the first instance, to prioritise pupil applications from within the designated school planning area(s) which the school was established to serve. This does not preclude schools from enrolling pupils from outside of the school planning area where they have sufficient places, rather it reflects the need to accommodate in the first instance the demographic for which the school was established.
In most areas, school planning areas were based on traditional school catchment areas where all primary schools were assigned to a post-primary feeder area (typically a population centre or town), containing one or more post-primary schools. With the introduction of Small Areas in Census 2011, these feeder areas were amended to align with Census Small Areas. The current school planning areas take account not only of local groupings of schools, but also of natural boundaries, Census Small Areas and other local conditions.
As stated above, the question of enrolment in individual schools, including the setting of catchment areas, is the responsibility of the Board of Management on behalf of the school Patron and my Department does not seek to intervene in decisions made by schools in such matters. It is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.
