Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 October 2004
362 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Science if she will respond to the recent report, How are our Kids?, by directing extra resources to schools in the area; and if there will be a greater input by her Department to deal with absenteeism, bullying, high drop out from school, adult education and other issues pertinent to her Department. [26640/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra363 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the recent report, How are our Kids?, in Tallaght West; and the new measures she proposes or sanctions she proposes to introduce in response to the considerable problems highlighted in the report. [26655/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 362 and 363 together.
A key focus of education policy is to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk and to optimise access, participation and outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups.
The wide variety of measures in place in Tallaght and in other similar areas for tackling educational disadvantage and social exclusion reflect these concerns. These measures range from pre-school interventions, supports for tackling children's literacy problems, reduced pupil teacher ratios, increased capitation grants, measures to tackle early school leaving and strengthen ties between the school, the family and the community. In addition, there are interventions in support of youth and in providing second chance education for young people and adults.
As part of the roll out of services of the National Educational Welfare Board, which is the national body with responsibility for school attendance, four educational welfare officers have been assigned to the Tallaght area. The school completion programme is my Department's main programme for tackling early school leaving. There are six school completion clusters in Tallaght, comprising six post-primary and 19 primary schools. The Tallaght youth service has been allocated funding of €700,000 to help targeted groups, including early school leavers, young mothers and Travellers. My Department also provides support for second chance education in west Tallaght through the Youthreach programme, the back to education initiative, and the local senior Traveller training centre.
Despite the range of difficulties identified in the report referred to by the Deputy, 68% of the parents surveyed for it reported that their child was achieving his or her potential at school. I welcome the report as a useful contribution to this complex area of policy and I have asked my officials to consider its wider policy implications in the context of finalising work on an overall review of educational disadvantage programmes at national level.
As part of a wider system of structural reform, my Department is establishing a network of ten regional offices, including one in Tallaght. This network of offices will help to identify education issues arising at local level, particularly gaps and overlap in social inclusion provision, and provide regular reports to my Department. This local presence will help my Department to continue to target resources at those most at risk of educational disadvantage in Tallaght and other similar areas. My priority as Minister for Education and Science will be to continue targeting resources at those areas and people most in need.
