Vol. 535 No. 2
52 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will put in place a system for regular evaluation and co-ordination of the various schemes at primary and second level aimed at tackling educational disadvantage. [12282/01]
In January last, I announced the new programme, Giving Children an Even Break, to tackle educational disadvantage at primary level. This programme will cost over £26 million over a three year period. There are a number of other programmes in place to address educational disadvantage at both primary and second level. These include the Early Start pilot project, Breaking the Cycle pilot project in primary schools, the home-school-community liaison scheme and the 8-15 early school leaver initiative which cover both levels, the stay in school retention initiative at second-level, and learning and support teachers.
Each of the interventions outlined is, or will be, monitored by my Department's inspectorate to ensure that it addresses the needs of the educationally disadvantaged pupils being targeted and that where modifications in programme content or mode of delivery are required, the necessary changes are made to incorporate these. Some of the initiatives have also been externally evaluated.
I am anxious that all programmes funded by my Department be subject to external review by independent experts in order to ascertain whether the programme objectives are being achieved and the needs of the target group are being catered for in an efficient and effective manner. For this reason, the new programme has a built – in external evaluation and review mechanism. I have also made arrangements to have all major initiatives in the area of educational disadvantage externally evaluated by independent experts. A register of competent evaluators is currently being compiled for this purpose. I expect that the first of these reviews, that of the home-school-community liaison scheme, will commence shortly. Officials from the relevant areas within my Department will oversee each review.
The ongoing work of my Department's inspectorate together with the programme of independent review will ensure that services for educationally disadvantaged children are provided in a co-ordinated and effective manner.
Will the Minister accept that despite the best efforts of the inspectorate in his Department, it does not have a very good track record of evaluating the impact of the various pilot projects? In terms of prioritising that evaluation, will the Minister ensure that where initiatives are available at primary school level, and are seen to be working, that the safety net is not dropped in the transition from primary to secondary level? The administration in the Department where there is a primary and a secondary school section means that, very often, the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. I ask the Minister to zone in on that transition period in terms of evaluation to ensure that the safety net remains in place.
I will take all five Deputies and the Minister can then reply to finish Question Time.
Many schools are not designated as disadvantaged. Will the Minister look again at the funding mechanisms that are in place, especially for primary schools, in relation to construction costs? Many disadvantaged communities cannot afford the 25% charge which the Minister is imposing. Will the Minister review the matter?
The Minister referred to the £26 million programme over three years which is designed to tackle educational disadvantage. There had been little or no consultation about this programme and it has caused some concern among teachers and school principals. In light of the fact that 25% of schools did not respond to the questionnaire used to establish this programme, what provision has the Minister made for additional funding to those schools, or are they now out of the loop for this year?
Is the Minister satisfied with the situation of resource teachers at primary school level where access by the pupils in need on a shared basis is so insignificant that the benefits of the scheme must be in question? It does not do justice to the needs of the pupils involved.
The Breaking the Cycle initiative was introduced by the last Rainbow Coalition and has proved to be a marvellous success in disadvantaged communities. When will that be extended nationwide? All disadvantaged schools in an area should be included in the scheme. In the Dublin 24 area there are four schools within a half mile radius of each other. Two of them are in the scheme and the other two are not. When will this become a national scheme?
The question was about evaluation. Deputy Creed talked about the importance of evaluation and the Department is currently advertising for expressions of interest from established researchers and evaluators in order to establish a list of agencies and individuals to provide ongoing and continuous evaluation services. The advertisements were placed in the Official Journal of the European Communities and in the national press. The closing date for receipt of applications is 21 May, in case Deputies know of any evaluators who wish to be considered. This is a continuing process which will enable pupils to be followed up without delay. The evaluators will be examining the effectiveness of all these schemes.
I listed the wide range of schemes that are in existence. The funding is not 25%, it is £25,000. That is a very beneficial change which has been made. It is £10,000 for a school regarded as a disadvantaged school.
Must they be designated?
That is a benefit for a start. Schools with a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils need to be considered in relation to that £10,000 as against £25,000. Every one of these costs millions of pounds but that is the direction we are taking.
Some 2,370 schools qualified so more than that number actually responded. A good number of those were also for the minimum level. The study undertaken by the Educational Research Centre was a good one. It gave a clearer picture of where the numbers of disadvantaged pupils are located.
There has been a very big increase in the numbers of resource teachers, from 199 to 850. I am subject to correction on the figures. We hope to continue to increase the support for children in need of that help.
That concludes Question Time.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
