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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 2 Dec 2003

Vol. 576 No. 1

Written Answers. - Traveller Education Strategy.

Jan O'Sullivan

Ceist:

210 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason Traveller children are not counted in the calculation of pupil numbers for the Giving Children an Even Break scheme; if he will include them in future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29286/03]

In line with normal staffing arrangements for national schools, teacher post allocations for the purpose of the Giving Children an Even Break scheme are determined by reference to enrolments in junior and senior classes on the previous 30 September. The Department excludes children where an additional teaching resource has already been provided. This occurs in the case of pupils with special needs taught by a recognised special class teacher and pupils receiving tuition by a recognised resource teacher for Travellers. There are 519 resource teachers for Travellers at primary level.

My Department is committed to developing a five year Traveller education strategy, including an evaluation of existing provision. The scope and terms of reference for the strategy exercise have been finalised and the joint working group drawn from both the advisory committee on traveller education, ACTE, and the educational disadvantage committee, EDC, which has recently been established, is working on developing the strategy.

The main focus of the Traveller education strategy exercise is to review and evaluate existing activities, the wide range of inputs, the quality of outcomes and the experience of Traveller learners within the education system. The strategy will provide recommendations on the way forward for Traveller education, taking account of the complexity of the issues involved, the history of provision and existing measures and recommend a phased implementation plan. Clear objectives will be set and it is envisaged that any baseline data required to support implementation of the strategy will be identified and the required arrangements to benchmark performance against this baseline data during the five year implementation period will be outlined.
The outcome should provide a more integrated approach across all sectors, greater retention and attainment of Travellers in education and improved value for money from the considerable investment in this area.
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