Vol. 409 No. 8
13 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Education if she will make the necessary funding available to St. Mary's national school, Sandyford, Dublin 18 to provide for a remedial teacher; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
15 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education when she expects to be in a position to appoint remedial teachers to various schools which have made such application in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
96 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Education if she will sanction the appointment of a remedial teacher for schools in the Castlecomer area, County Kilkenny; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
101 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that (1) St. Mary's national school, Sandyford, County Dublin, does not have a remedial teacher, (2) that 90 per cent of the school intake comes from the county council estates of Kilcross, Sandyford Park, Bearna Park and Ballyogan, (3) that up to 70 per cent of these families have medical cards and receive unemployment assistance or benefit, (4) that this school, in effect, serves a pocket of deprivation in the Sandyford area and (5) that all schools in the vicinity, serving the more affluent areas, have the benefit of such a post; and if she will outline her intentions on the provision of a remedial teacher for this school.
102 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the need for the appointment of a remedial teacher to be shared between Kilmeague-Robertstown and a number of other national schools in Country Kildare; if she expects to be in a position to accede to this request in the context of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress in the current year; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
103 Mr. Ryan asked the Minister for Education if she will make a statement on the joint application from the boards of management of the Naul national school and Ballyboughal national school in County Dublin for a shared remedial teacher; and if, having regard to the deep concern being expressed by the parents on this matter, she will recommend the appointment of same for September 1991.
104 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Education if she will appoint a remedial teacher for the parish of Donagh covering the four national schools of Knock-nagrove national school, Tydavnet, Scoil Phádraig, Corrocrin, Edenmore national school, Emyvale and St. Mary's national school, Glaslough, in view of the fact that (1) there is a willingness on the part of the principals of the schools themselves to co-ordinate the activities of the teacher between the schools, (2) school managers have justified the need for a remedial teacher by a detailed survey carried out in October, 1990, the results of which were submitted to her Department and (3) they have been seeking to have this teacher appointed since 1984-85; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 13, 15, 96, 101, 102, 103 and 104 together.
An additional 80 remedial teachers will be appointed as set out under the Programme for Economic and Social Progress to serve schools on an individual or shared basis. These appointments will be made following the collection of data and information by my Department's primary inspectorate from schools. These posts will then be allocated on the basis of priority of need, as indicated by the information collected by the Department's inspectorate. The needs of the particular schools mentioned will be considered when decisions in these matters are being taken.
Has the Minister received communications from the various interests in County Kildare regarding the needs of the areas concerned?
Yes. Indeed, I have received communications from every county on the matter.
May I ask the Minister when the schools will be selected to which remedial teachers will be appointed and if the appointments will be made before 1 September when the schools will reopen?
Yes. The demand was so great that obviously we had to be rigorous in having all the cases considered. Of course every case was properly applied for and every case would need one. We are starting a programme of extensive provision of remedial teachers. I wanted to be sure that we could stand over the allocations made. I wish to put on the record of the House that since I became Minister for Education there have just been two previous occasions in which such allocations have been made, 30 last year and 30 the year before, and they were made on that basis. The inspectorate made professional evaluations based on their own knowledge and the various tests carried out. They then sent the evaluations to the Department for review by the more senior inspectorate and they are presented and just ratified by me. I have explained that to Deputies from both sides of the House. The apportionment of teachers is a professional matter and it is dealt with in that way.
Is there a sufficient supply of qualified remedial teachers, and do the Department intend to provide courses for teachers from schools that have not been successful in the allocation and who would be willing to train to become qualified remedial teachers?
Yes, if there are enough qualified remedial teachers, and I believe there are. The Department run various courses and teachers can leave work and attend them. We try to facilitate those courses as often as we can. In tandem with the 80 teachers, 30 extra teachers will be provided for areas deemed to be disadvantaged, and there will be a fairly good extension to the home school liaison scheme by the appointment of other teachers to that scheme. Those measures will all be in place for the school year beginning in early September.
