Written Answers Nos. 488-506
488. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an updated report, per school, of the proposed new builds that cover the Dublin South-West constituency area; and developments regarding the identification of sites, planning, and advertising and procurement for a builder. [38066/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that whilst the information requested is not available on an electoral or constituency area basis, the following table provides details of the current development status of new schools in the Dublin South West area.Due to commercial sensitivities, it is not possible to provide further details in relation to the site acquisition position on particular projects. When the site acquisition process is completed, the project concerned will be advanced within the architectural planning process.
New School Building Projects in Dublin South West Area.
|
School |
Roll No. |
Listing on 5 Year Construction Plan |
Status |
|
New School-Gaelscoil Sliabh Rua |
20425U |
2014 |
At Tender Stage for appointment of a Building Contractor |
|
New School- Firhouse Educate Together |
20411J |
2014/15 |
The acquisition of a site is being explored with Sth Dublin Co. Council |
|
New School- Gaelscoil Teach Giúise |
20412L |
2014/15 |
The acquisition of a site is being explored with Sth Dublin Co. Council |
|
New City West Community NS- Scoil Niamh |
20398U |
2015/16 |
Site for permanent building identified and under negotiation. |
|
Ballinteer Educate Together NS |
20400E |
2015/16 |
In planning permission process for permanent accommodation on current school site |
|
Stepaside Educate Together NS |
20401G |
2015/16 |
Site for permanent building under negotiation. |
|
New City West Educate Together NS |
20402I |
2015/16 |
Site for permanent building identified and under negotiation. |
|
Scoil Aoife Tallaght West Community NS |
20422O |
Announced post 5 Year Plan |
Site for permanent building acquired. School being advanced into architectural planning. |
|
Gaelcholáiste an Phiarsaigh |
68161H |
Announced post 5 Year Plan |
Commenced operation in 2014 in its permanent accommodation |
|
New Educate Together Post-Primary School for Ballinteer |
68241F |
Announced post 5 Year Plan |
School commencing in 2016. Site identification process underway. |
|
New Post Primary, Kingswood Heights, Tallaght |
76293U |
2015/16 |
At Stage 2(a) of the Architectural Planning Process |
489. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an updated report regarding the development and identification/selection of a proposed new site for a second level school (details supplied) in Dublin 24. [38067/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department plans to provide a new post-primary school at the site to which the Deputy refers.
The school building project is included in my Department's five year building programme to proceed to Tender and Construction in 2015/16. This new school will operate under the patronage of the local Education and Training Board.
The design team appointed were the winners of the post-primary school design competition held in 2012. The Design Team are currently finalising the developed sketch design of this project, for presentation to my Department.
490. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to have farm safety issues incorporated into appropriate parts of the primary school curriculum. [38068/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are no plans at the moment to include the topic of farm safety in the primary school curriculum.
Education and information about farm safety is provided by the Health and Safety Authority who have a specific area on their website (www.hsa.ie) that aims to promote safe practice in agriculture and forestry.
491. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a new secondary school in Carrigtwohill, County Cork; if a site has been identified; when the building will begin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38077/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department, working in conjunction with Cork County Council, has identified a suitable site for the new post primary school referred to by the Deputy. I can confirm that the acquisition of the site is being progressed, however due to the commercially sensitive nature of acquisitions generally I am not in a position to give further details at this time.
Once the acquisition of the site is finalised, a design team for the project will be appointed.
492. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on delivering equality of opportunity in schools in 2014-2015. [38085/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraDEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion, was launched in 2005. DEIS is my Department's main policy initiative to tackle educational disadvantage. The aim of DEIS is to ensure that the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities are prioritised and effectively addressed.
DEIS is the subject of ongoing evaluation to ensure successful implementation and that the best possible approaches to measuring progress and outcomes at both local and national level are used. At a seminar in May of this year, my predecessor Deputy Quinn announced plans to commission one further piece of research in relation to DEIS which aims to collate all the evaluation work to date on the DEIS policy. This report will inform future policy development in relation to educational disadvantage, including the DEIS programme. A request for tender issued on August 1st 2014 and my officials are currently finalising this procurement process.
The current focus of my Department is on this ongoing evaluation and distilling the learning from the research to date while awaiting the outcome of the aforementioned report to inform future policy on educational disadvantage. My key priority is to continue to prioritise and target resources at schools with the most concentrated levels of disadvantage.
With regards to any additional schools joining DEIS, the current economic climate and the ongoing challenge to meet significant targets on reducing public expenditure means that there is no capacity to provide for the inclusion of additional schools in DEIS at this time.
493. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding new services for children with special needs. [38086/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware, approximately 15% of the entire budget of my Department – some €1.3 billion – was spent in support of children with Special Educational Needs in 2013/14 which shows that the overall level of funding for special education has been protected, and increased, despite the ongoing severe financial position.
This provides for additional learning and resource teaching support, Special Needs Assistant support, special transport arrangements, building adaptations, enhanced capitation and funding for the purchase of specialised equipment and a range of other supports.
With regard to new policy developments for children with special educational needs, the National Council for Special Education published its Report on a Proposed New Model for Allocating Teachers for Students with Special Educational Needs on 18th June 2014.
The report recommends that a new allocation model should be developed, based on a schools educational profile, while providing a baseline allocation to every mainstream school to support inclusion.
My Department is currently collecting information required to develop the proposed new model and to access whether, and from when the model could be implemented.
The overall level of investment being provided will ensure that provision can continue to be made for the educational requirements of children with special educational needs in both mainstream and special schools.
494. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding new school building programmes in Dublin North-Central. [38087/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe delivery of major school projects to meet significant demographic demands nationally will be the main focus for capital investment in schools in the coming years. The Department's Five Year Construction Plan is focused on meeting those demographic needs and sets out details of the major school projects, both new schools and extensions, that are planned to proceed to construction over the duration of the Plan. My Department will also consider applications from schools for funding for additional classrooms where an immediate enrolment need is arising. As part of the Five Year Plan, some 40 new schools are to be established across the country to cater for increasing demographics. Many of these schools have already commenced operation and it is intended that the remainder will commence operation between now and 2016. Details of all projects on the school building programme, including those in North Dublin, may be viewed on my Department's website at www.education.ie.
My Department is currently analysing demographic data on a nationwide basis to determine where additional school accommodation might be needed from 2015 onwards and to ensure that this is provided in a timely manner.
495. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review the issue of assessment in the junior certificate examinations. [38088/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe issue of assessment in junior certificate examinations has been recently reviewed, as a result of which the Framework for Junior Cycle was launched in October 2012.
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 along with principals and deputy principals in educational assessment, including professional development of processes of moderation; the introduction (in the coming years) of standardised tests for all schools and their 2nd year students in English reading, Mathematics and scientific literacy and in addition in Irish reading for Irish-medium schools; and the NCCA is developing a comprehensive assessment and moderation toolkit.
However, I am aware that teacher unions have concerns. At my invitation, the teacher unions have outlined to me their concerns in relation to aspects of the proposed reforms. In doing so, the unions underlined teacher support for the reforms that will lead to better quality teaching and learning experiences and thence outcomes for students. I am currently considering the concerns which were raised by teacher representatives, and what different forms of engagement might be considered to facilitate an overall agreement.
496. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the numbers or percentage of students from disadvantaged areas attending third level colleges in 2014 [38089/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhile no statistics are available as yet for the academic year 2014/15 I would like to point out that information is not gathered in the format requested by the Deputy.
As part of the implementation of national access policy and the national access plan, my Department, through the HEA, supports the access programmes of higher education institutions. This has included support for the HEAR admissions scheme which targets entry by school-leavers from disadvantaged backgrounds to seventeen HEA institutions (http://www.accesscollege.ie/). The HEAR scheme has operated on a fully national basis, as part of the annual CAO process since 2010.
A summary of the number of students entering through the scheme over the past five years is provided in the following Table A, together with a summary of the Strategic Innovation Funding (SIF) amounts allocated to both the HEAR and DARE scheme for students with disabilities in 2010 and 2011.
Table A
|
Year |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
HEAR acceptances |
1,017 |
1,366 |
1,716 |
2,012 |
2,155 |
|
SIF allocation |
€352,803 |
€227,042 |
- - |
- |
Table B
|
Year |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
Core Access Allocation (26 institutions) |
€19m |
€29m |
€29m |
€26m |
Table C
|
Year |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
|
Estimate of Total Entrants from Target Socio-Economic Groups to HEA Institutions |
8,098 |
8,363 |
8,233 |
8,640 |
9,150 |
497. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of consultants contracted to undertake work for Caranua; the names and details of these consultants; if she appointed any consultants to Caranua and their details; the value of their contracts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38105/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraPursuant to section 7(7) of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act, 2012 Caranua may, with my approval, enter into contracts or engage consultants or advisers.
While I have not appointed any consultants to Caranua, my Department has been liaising with Caranua in relation to its contractual arrangements and its engagement of consultants and is currently considering the approval of a number of consultancies and contracts pursuant to section 7(7). I understand that it is hoped to finalise the matter shortly. I will arrange to have the relevant details forwarded to the Deputy once finalised.
498. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the advocacy or representative groups of survivors of residential institutional abuse that have requested to meet her since she took office; the groups she has met to date; if she will meet any others; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38106/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince my appointment as Minister I have received meeting requests from representatives of Right to Peace and the Irish Women Survivor's Support Network in the UK. While neither meeting has as yet taken place, I understand that one request is not being pursued at present while arrangements are being made for the other meeting.
499. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will give detailed consideration to the issues raised in correspondence (details supplied) in respect of class sizes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38112/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe primary staffing schedule currently operates on the basis of a general average of 1 classroom teacher for every 28 pupils, with lower thresholds for DEIS Band 1 schools. Schools have autonomy in relation to the deployment of classroom teachers to individual classes. My Department's guidance to schools is that the number of pupils in any class is kept as low as possible taking all relevant contextual factors into account (e.g. classroom accommodation, fluctuating enrolment etc.). School authorities are also requested, where possible, to use their autonomy under the staffing schedule to implement smaller class sizes for junior classes.
The Staffing Schedule includes the provision where schools experiencing rapid increases in enrolment can apply for additional permanent mainstream posts on developing grounds.
The staffing process includes an appeals mechanism for schools to submit an appeal under certain criteria to an independent Appeals Board. The Appeals Board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final.
In addition, the staffing appeals process at primary level was extended for the current school year to allow schools that are not gaining an additional teaching post under the developing schools criterion to submit an appeal to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board. This appeal criterion is targeted at those schools that make a significant contribution to the provision of school places and so assist the response to demographic growth within their area and, as a result, are under significant pressure on their class sizes at infants level. Circular 0007/2014 provides details for schools wishing to make an appeal.
The context for any discussion about class sizes is that my Department, like all other Government Departments, is operating within a budgetary programme that is designed to return the Government finances to a sustainable basis. This budgetary programme has helped Ireland to return to a position where we are seeing some economic growth. It is a continuing improvement in our economic growth that will enable us to move to a point in future budgets where we can look again at providing for additional teacher resources in schools which could bring about an improvement in PTR and class size.
In the meantime, my Department's focus is on targeting any available resources to cater for the continued increase in student numbers across primary, post-primary and third level.
500. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the minor capital works grant has been withdrawn for this school year; if this is a temporary measure; if there is emergency funding available for schools which have not the means to compensate for the loss of this grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38114/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraCircular Letter 0062/2013 which was published as the Minor Works Grant for the school year 2013/2014 issued last November states "the grant will only be paid in future years as funding permits". The focus under the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme 2012-2016 is on meeting the demand for additional school places. Consequently, there is no funding provided at this time in the 2014 capital allocation for the payment of a Minor Works Grant. Further, I cannot yet give any commitment to restore the Minor Works Grant on an annual basis.
Funds transferred to schools under the Minor Works Grant must be spent on the physical infrastructure of the school or on items of furniture and equipment for educational use including IT related equipment. As the Minor Works Grant may not be used for items of a non-capital nature, it has no role to play in the day-to-day running costs of a primary school such as the payment of electricity and telephone accounts, the purchase of fuel and other current expenses.
My Department has an Emergency Works Scheme whose purpose is to ensure the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are most in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation or on receipt of an enrolment application from a special needs pupil. An emergency is a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment, which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action and in the case of a school, if not corrected, would prevent the school or part thereof from opening.
501. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a decision has been made on a student grant appeal in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38116/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraOfficials in my Department have confirmed that the student referred to by the Deputy has appealed the decision of the awarding authority to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board.
The appeal will be heard within the time frame set out in the Student Support Act 2011. The student will be notified directly of the outcome of the appeal.
502. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Education and Skills when an application to fund the construction of a general purpose physical education facility will be reassessed in respect of a school (details supplied) in County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38127/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, my Department sanctioned a devolved grant to the school in question in March, 2012 that will provide 8 permanent mainstream classrooms and substantial ancillary accommodation, which when completed will significantly enhance the school's facilities.
Given the scale of the project, the Educational Training Board are assisting the school in managing the building project and I understand the works commenced on site in February, 2014.
In relation to the school's request for a PE hall, the Deputy will be aware that due to the competing demands on my Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of essential additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements, it is not possible to provide for a PE hall at this time. However my Department will retain the school's application on file in the context of any future funding becoming available.
503. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a Quality and Qualifications Ireland explanatory seminar on the 2014 process for QQI-ACELS accreditation held in January 2014 was attended by 113 non-QQI-ACELS schools or colleges; the number of these schools or colleges that have been successful in achieving accreditation in 2014; and the remaining schools which will not complete the accreditation process by 31 December 2014. [38134/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra504. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the figures for the number of English language schools/colleges that applied in 2014 for accreditation under QQI/ACELS; the number of English language schools/colleges that have been awarded accreditation under QQI/ACELS in 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38135/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra505. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans for the introduction of the new international education mark in January 2015; the details and timeframes for the application process; when applications will be able to be made by colleges who wish to provide courses in 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38136/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra506. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the professional qualifications required to qualify for the new international education mark for English language schools and in particular if the following current qualifications for English, namely, Cambridge, ICM, CTH, EDI Pearson and ABE will be recognised under the 2015 arrangements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38137/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 503 to 506, inclusive, together.
QQI re-opened access to ACELS recognition for a temporary period from 17 October 2013 to 31 January 2014. The purpose of this period was to enable those English Language Training Organisations (ELTOs) which were ready to apply, and which had expressed a strong interest in gaining recognition for 2014, to do so through a revised and strengthened process.
Providers were required to attend a briefing before making an application, and three such briefings took place during that period. I am informed by QQI that the briefings were held on 30 October 2013, 28 November 2013 and 9 January 2014 and that a total of 53 providers were represented.
By 31 January, QQI/ACELS had received a total of 35 applications for recognition. As of 25 September, 5 of those applications had been successful, 1 application had been refused and 10 applications ceased due to closure, suspension or a change of circumstances post-application. The remaining 19 applications are still in process, with 14 of those applications being close to completion.
With regard to the International Education Mark, QQI published its White Paper on the International Education Mark in May and published a draft Code of Practice, developed in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, last week. The final Policy on the International Education Mark and the Code of Practice will be published by QQI before the end of the year. QQI will begin to accept applications for authorisation to use the International Education Mark from English Language Training Organisations at the beginning of 2015 and higher education providers will then be able to apply in the second half of the year. Details of the application process will be made available when it is opened to providers.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act, 2012, sets out the legislative framework for the International Education Mark. The Act provides that the Mark will be authorised at provider level, rather than at programme level, and requires that providers will have to –
(1) agree quality assurance and access, transfer and progression procedures with QQI before applying for authorisation,
(2) ensure that their programmes lead to awards which are recognised through the National Framework of Qualifications (where they are capable of being so recognised), and
(3) demonstrate their overall compliance with the Code of Practice for the provision of education to international learners.
Therefore, if the awards referred to by the Deputy are recognised through the Framework they would not prevent the provider concerned from gaining authorisation to use the International Education Mark.
It should be noted, however, that authorisation to use the International Education Mark will not, on its own, allow providers to recruit non-EEA students from 1 January 2015. The regulatory reform of the international education, which I recently announced with the Minister for Justice and Equality, requires that the programmes concerned lead to awards made by Irish awarding bodies, such as the universities or QQI. Therefore providers will not be permitted to recruit non-EEA students to programmes leading to the awards referred to by the Deputy.
From 1 January, eligible programmes will be listed on an Interim List of Eligible Programmes for Student Immigration Permission, and the detailed criteria for inclusion of programmes on that list can be found on www.intregister.ie.
