Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 June 2012
212 Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to address the reductions in guidance counselling hours in the 27 post primary schools in County Kerry which is forcing school principals and boards of management of Kerry’s post primary schools into making impossible choices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28992/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraTeacher allocations are approved annually in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. My Department has published the staffing arrangements at post primary level for the coming school year, 2012/13. The relevant Post Primary circular is 0009/2012 which is available on my Department's website. At post primary level schools will have autonomy on how best to prioritise its available resources to meet its requirements in relation to guidance and the provision of an appropriate range of subjects to its students. Decisions on how this is done will be taken at school level and I am confident that schools will act in the best interest of students when determining precisely how to use the teaching resources available to them.
A key priority for me is to continue to prioritise and target available funding at schools with the most concentrated levels of educational disadvantage. All 195 second-level schools in DEIS have been given targeted support by a more favourable staffing schedule of 18.25:1. This is a 0.75 point reduction compared to the existing PTR of 19:1 that applies in non-fee-paying second-level schools. The teacher allocation process at post-primary level is largely completed at this stage and all schools would have been notified accordingly. The final staffing position for all schools at post primary level will ultimately not be known until the Autumn. At that stage the allocation process will be fully completed and all appeals to the Staffing Appeal Board will have been considered.
