Wednesday, 17 Apr 2013

Written Answers Nos. 32-40

School Enrolments

Ceisteanna (35, 40, 49)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

35. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to change school enrolment practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17538/13]

Seán Ó Fearghaíl

Ceist:

40. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans regarding school enrolment procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17553/13]

Pearse Doherty

Ceist:

49. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide a timeframe for when he intends to publish legislation to amend the Education Welfare Act to ensure fairer school enrolment policies; and if he will provide details on the way in which he plans to guarantee a more equitable admission policy to schools. [17574/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

I propose to take Questions Nos. 35, 40 and 49 together.

As the Deputies will be aware, I announced at the recent Teacher Union Conferences that I will shortly bring to Government draft heads of a bill – the Education (Admission to School) Bill 2013. I will seek to publish the Bill in draft form to allow a full public discussion, including inputs from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection and the education partners. I also intend to publish draft regulations that I plan to make when the Bill is enacted.

In bringing forward these proposals, it is not my intention to unnecessarily intrude into how schools do their business. My policy objective is to ensure that the way in which schools decide on applications is structured, fair and transparent. As the Bill and the Regulations will be published in draft form, they will also be subject to a lot of detailed scrutiny before becoming law. I will be reflecting carefully on the views expressed in the consultation process to ensure they strike the right balance between school autonomy and fairness in our education system.

School Curriculum

Ceisteanna (36)

Thomas P. Broughan

Ceist:

36. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for the subject of history as a mandatory part of the curriculum for the junior cycle; if he is considering merging history with a group of other subjects including perhaps geography in a new subject grouping; if he has consulted with the representatives of second and third level history teachers regarding same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17443/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

In line with the philosophy of the Framework for Junior Cycle, no subject or short course will be deemed compulsory apart from Irish, English and Mathematics. There are no plans to revisit this. Schools will be given flexibility to shape their own junior cycle programme by including a selection of subjects, short courses and other learning experiences that will allow their students to meet the requirements of the twenty-four statements of learning outlined in the Framework.

History, currently a compulsory subject in voluntary secondary schools only, will be maintained as a discrete subject just as Geography and others will be under the Framework. New specifications for History will be developed in due course. In the event that a student does not study History as a discrete subject, there is still a requirement of schools to ensure that students meet the statements of learning, including "values local, national and internation heritage, understands the importance of the relationship between past and current events and the forces that drive change". Individual schools will have the flexibility to decide how they may do this. For example, a school or group of schools in a town, may opt to develop a short course in History to reflect a particular historical event relevant to their area.

I met with the representatives of the History Teachers' Association of Ireland in early 2012 and the discussion at that meeting helped to inform the final Framework document. I have every confidence that the changes envisaged in Framework for Junior Cycle will ensure that the place of historical study will be retained and given a new impetus across the junior cycle curriculum.

Croke Park Agreement Issues

Ceisteanna (37)

John McGuinness

Ceist:

37. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Skills the impact of the recent Croke Park agreement on the education budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17548/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

In relation to estimates of savings arising from the LRC proposals, the Revised Estimates Volume for 2013 is expected to be published very shortly. This document will set out the revised allocations for Votes arising from the proposals made. The Revised Estimates Volume for 2013 will be submitted to the Oireachtas for consideration in due course.

Following the publication of the 2013 Revised Estimates Volume, my Department will be in contact with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform regarding the overall allocations for the period 2014-2016, including the ongoing effect of the LRC proposals and staffing ceilings.

School Staffing

Ceisteanna (38)

Denis Naughten

Ceist:

38. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review his policy on the staffing ratios in small rural schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17437/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

The Deputy will be aware that in the context of Budget 2012, I announced a three year phased adjustment to increase the relevant pupil thresholds for small schools with four teachers or less. The staffing arrangements in small primary schools are considerably more favourable than other medium to larger schools. The budget measure is focused on dealing with this cost premium, on a phased basis, through progressively increasing the pupil thresholds for the allocation of classroom teachers in small primary schools. This budget measure relates to the number of teachers allocated to small primary schools and there are no plans to change it.

This Government has protected education as much as it can. In these extremely challenging times, all public servants are being asked to deliver our public services on a reduced level of resources and teachers in small schools cannot be immune from this requirement.

The value for money review of small primary school provision is at an advanced stage of preparation. I expect to publish the review and I look forward to debating its findings at that stage.

School Accommodation

Ceisteanna (39)

Derek Keating

Ceist:

39. Deputy Derek Keating asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason 400 pupils are being educated in a prefabricated school (details supplied) in County Dublin and, less than 200 metres away, a new school is being planned and built as a result of his non-patronage enquiry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17452/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

As the Deputy will be aware, there are two schools on this site, a Junior School and a Senior School. Both schools have temporary accommodation in addition to their permanent structures and have applied to the Department for replacement permanent buildings.

The next step to progressing a building project for the schools involves the appointment of a design team and the commencement of the architectural planning process. School building projects such as this one that are not included in the 5 year construction programme will continue to be progressed to final planning stages in anticipation of further funds being available to the Department in the future.

The reason my Department has decided to build a new primary school close to the schools in question is to meet an identified demographic need in the area. The school is due to open in temporary accommodation in September 2013.

Question No. 40 answered with Question No. 35.