Written Answers Nos. 97-103
97. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a resource teacher in a school (details supplied) in Dublin 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17805/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraOf all NCSE approved resource teaching hours in the 2012/13 school year, 85% were allocated to schools that had resource base posts. A network of over 2,500 full-time resource posts has been put in place in close to 1,700 base schools throughout the country. Base schools are required to co-operate with their neighbouring schools to ensure that any surplus capacity in the (25 hour) resource posts is made available to neighbouring schools to meet their NCSE approved resource hour requirements. If the surplus capacity is fully utilised there are standard arrangements in place for the relevant schools to contact the Department for part-time resource teaching posts. The arrangements for the coming school year 2013/14 are set out in Circular 0013/2013 which is available on the website.
98. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the framework for junior cycle document and his further views that this will change the role of the teacher from that of an advocate to that of a judge of their own students and could be less impartial than other methods of assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17877/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Leaving Certificate is a high stakes examination. It provides a direct entry access route to further and higher education and the labour market. This is no longer true of the Junior Certificate for the vast majority of students. Just as we reached a point in 1967, where there was no longer a need for a state examined Primary Certificate, I believe we have now reached that point in relation to the Junior Certificate. The abolition of the Primary Certificate did not change primary school teachers from advocates for their students to judges of them. It removed a narrow external assessment, and paved the way for the introduction of a child-centred curriculum for pupils. The Framework will create interested, independent learners who will be better prepared to meet the challenges of life beyond school. I believe these reforms will enable the educational system to deliver a junior cycle that places the needs of students at the core of quality learning, teaching and assessment.
Extensive quality assurance measures are being built into the new Junior Cycle. These include subject specifications with clear learning outcomes; a comprehensive professional development programme for teachers, principals and deputy principals in, inter alia, educational assessment, including processes of moderation; the introduction of standardised tests for all schools and students in English reading, Mathematics and Science and in Irish reading for Irish-medium schools; and the development of an assessment and moderation toolkit. Assessment for learning will have a key role and will enhance learning throughout the three years of Junior Cycle. It will be complemented by the two components of assessment of learning. There will be the school work component which will be based on work undertaken by students in their second and third years and there will also be a final assessment component at the end of third year. There will be a school report. The report will include a School Certificate of results in eight to ten subjects or their equivalents. The report will also include a student profile which will reflect their other learning experiences.
Subjects and short courses with their new modes of assessment are being introduced on a phased basis from September 2014 so that capacity in the system can be built up incrementally. Additional quality assurance measures in relation to assessment of learning at end of junior cycle, to maximise impartiality, include the following:
- The State Examinations Commission (SEC) will provide final assessment papers and marking schemes for subjects until the new school-based system of assessment is fully established
- For English, Irish and Mathematics, the SEC will initially mark these papers. This arrangement will continue until standardised testing becomes established in junior cycle
- For the school work component, schools will undertake internal moderation in accordance with the guidelines on moderation for Junior Cycle assessment which will be formally confirmed by the principal
- The results awarded on every School Certificate of Learning will be sent to the Department.
The Department will monitor the national and school patterns along with the results in the standardised testing of reading, Mathematics and Science. This monitoring will provide further quality assurance and identify any local or national anomalies. A report on overall trends will be published regularly. In the event of an unusual pattern of achievement, the Inspectorate of the Department will be advised, and support and evaluation measures will be provided for the school. In addition, national monitoring of standards will be complemented by continued participation in national and international assessments.
99. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills the current status of plans to revise the higher education grant means assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17883/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy will be aware that, following agreement in principle by the Government to broaden the current means testing arrangements for student grants by way of inclusion of the value of capital assets, I set up a dedicated implementation group to bring forward detailed proposals. I have received a draft report from the implementation group. This is currently under consideration and I will be consulting further with my cabinet colleagues.
100. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans, if any, to ensure universal availability of a school book rental scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17884/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware I launched new "Guidelines for Developing Textbook Rental Schemes in Schools" on 28 January last. These Guidelines provide practical advice to primary and post-primary schools on how rental schemes can be established and operated. The aim of the Guidelines is to help as many schools as possible to start such book rental programmes. The publication of these Guidelines follows a survey of schools by the Department. This had a 99% response rate at primary level, and showed that 76% of primary schools operate a book rental scheme. At second level, the response rate was lower, at 44%. Of those which did respond, 88% of those in the VEC sector and 73% of those in the Community and Comprehensive sector operated a book rental scheme. I believe these results show that we have a good foundation to build on across the country. I hope that schools that are not yet operating book rental schemes will be encouraged to use the Guidelines to introduce them. If they do, it will result in substantial savings for parents.
Schools which already have rental schemes can save parents up to 80% of the cost of buying new books. A special "Guide for Parents" was also published, to inform them of how the schemes operate and how parents can help schools to establish and run them. I have been very clear in my support for book rental schemes. All of us who are parents know how expensive textbooks can be and what a burden it places on already hard pressed families at the start of every school year. I am pleased to see the high level of book rental schemes in operation at primary level and I believe that these Guidelines will encourage this practice across all schools in our education landscape. I also published a Report on Textbook Rental Schemes in Schools and the Allocation of Textbook Grants by the Department of Education and Skills in May 2012. This report presented four policy options to encourage schools to establish textbook rental schemes. None of the options is ideal, each one involves a trade-off of advantages and disadvantages. I will continue to monitor the number of schools operating book rental schemes, and if it proves necessary consider further steps to encourage schools to do so.
102. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he intends to take to address the increasing numbers of disadvantaged children within the education system in view of the reduction in funding to support such children; the psychological supports being provided to children from grossly indebted families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17886/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraEvidence has shown that disadvantage associated with poverty and social exclusion assumes a multiplier effect where the levels are highly concentrated in schools. DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion remains my Department's policy instrument to address educational disadvantage which focuses on addressing and prioritising the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities, from pre-school through second-level education. It is important to note that over 50% of disadvantaged students do not attend DEIS schools. Therefore while the majority of schools include, among their pupils, children with disadvantaged backgrounds, in general most schools address the individual needs of these children without recourse to additional targeted resources.
A key focus of the Government's 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. Therefore it is my intention that the additional resources available to DEIS schools are utilised to optimum benefit to achieve identified outcomes for the most at risk pupils. All primary and post- primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Schools that do not currently have NEPS psychologists assigned to them may avail of the SCPA, whereby the school can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved by NEPS, and NEPS will pay the psychologist the fees for this assessment directly. NEPS psychologists are assigned schools based on a weighting process which takes into account school size, DEIS status, gender mix and geographical spread. DEIS schools are both afforded a priority in the assigning of a NEPS psychologist and a premium in time allocated by the psychologist to the school over non-DEIS schools.
It is also important to note that poverty is one of wide range of issues which impacts on the learning capacity of pupils and in respect of which interventions are made by a number of Government Departments and agencies. The targeting of resources in schools with the most concentrated levels of educational disadvantage remains a key priority for my Department.
103. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on the work of his Department on tackling bullying; if he will outline the timetable for the delivery of the action plan from the Working Group on Bullying; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17887/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn Tuesday, 29 January 2013, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and I published an Action Plan on Bullying which sets out 12 actions to help prevent and tackle bullying in primary and second level schools. I have ring-fenced €500,000 to support implementation of these actions this year. Officials from my Department have already commenced work on the implementation of the actions. In particular, an awareness raising initiative on cyber bullying targeted at young people is already underway and my Department is supporting the Stand Up! Awareness Week Against Homophobic and Transphobic Bullying in second level schools which took place in March. Work has also commenced on developing new anti-bullying procedures for schools in consultation with the school management bodies, teacher unions and national parents councils. These new procedures are due to issue to schools for the start of the next school year.
Bullying and mental health have been prioritised for teacher education summer courses in 2013. The National Disability Authority has commenced work on researching effective supports for children with physical disabilities and/or special educational needs. Preliminary work has commenced on other aspects of the Action Plan on Bullying. Implementation will continue in the coming months.
