Vol. 529 No. 4
260 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Education and Science if a school (details supplied) in County Donegal should be considered to be an urban school in view of the population it serves; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3140/01]
261 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Education and Science if a school (details supplied) in County Donegal should be considered to be an urban school in view of the population it serves; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3141/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 260 and 261 together.
The schools referred to by the Deputy have been included in the rural dimension of the new programme launched by me last month to address educational disadvantage at primary level. Schools in areas with populations less than 1,500 people were categorised as rural. The census of population for 1996 published by the Central Statistics Office was used for this categorisation.
The schools in question will receive supplementary grant aid which, in common with other schools being included in the new programme, is based on the levels of concentration of disadvantaged pupils in the schools as identified through the extensive survey conducted last year by Educational Research Centre.
Schools identified by the Educational Research Centre as having the highest concentration of disadvantaged pupils will be allocated the services of a co-ordinator who will work in clusters of four or five schools. The schools referred to by the Deputy have been selected for inclusion in such clusters.
To assist schools in making the best use of the extra resources, I am appointing a director of programmes to tackle disadvantage, assisted by a support team. This team will provide training in the understanding of educational disadvantage and the delivery of targeted supports.
Where individual schools are concerned about the outcome of the survey in respect of their school, they may make a submission to my Department outlining their circumstances. These submissions will be referred to the ERC for consideration. The situation of these schools will then be further considered.
