Written Answers Nos. 125-134
125. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív den Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna an bhfuil sé i gceist aige an liúntas oileán €1,658 a thabhairt ar ais do gach múinteoir i scoil oileáin, ag cur san áireamh an costas breise a bhaineann le cónaí ar oileán agus an fhadhb atá ann múinteoirí oilte a mhealladh go dtí na hoileáin; agus an ndéanfaidh sé ráiteas ina thaobh. [6194/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraCheadaigh an Rialtas roinnt beart a bhaineann le liúntais seirbhíse poiblí tar éis don Aire Caiteachais Phoiblí agus Athchóirithe athbhreithniú a dhéanamh ar liúntais agus ar íocaíochtaí préimheanna ar fud na seirbhíse poiblí. Mar thoradh ar an gcinneadh ón Rialtas, rinneadh an liúntas Oileáin a tharraingt siar do thairbhithe nua le héifeacht ón 1 Feabhra 2012. Is é sin an seasamh go fóill.
Aon duine a bhí ag fáil an liúntais an 31 Eanáir 2012, leanfaidh sé/sí leis an liúntas sin a fháil ach amháin i gcás gur scoir an múinteoir dá ról nó gur athraigh sé/sí scoil nó fostóir an 1 Feabhra 2012 nó ina dhiaidh. Má dhéantar múinteoir a ath-imscaradh faoin scéim chomhaontaithe ath-imscartha, ní mheasfar gur scoir an múinteoir dá ról.
Tar éis athbhreithniú a bheith déanta ar leithdháileadh foirne i gcomhair Bunscoileanna Beaga, forálann ceann de na bearta a fógraíodh i gCáinaisnéis 2017 do bhunscoileanna aon oide ar oileáin. Sa chás gurb í an scoil an t-aon bhunscoil ar an oileán, is féidir an dara hoide a cheapadh sa scoil. Beidh éifeacht leis seo ó mhí Mheán Fómhair 2017 agus leagfar amach é sa chiorclán maidir le sceideal foirne don scoilbhliain 2017/18 a bheidh ar fáil ar shuíomh gréasáin mo Roinne sna seachtainí seo amach romhainn.
Is í an aidhm atá leis an bPolasaí don Oideachas Gaeltachta 2017-2022 ón Roinn, a seoladh an 28 Deireadh Fómhair 2016, ná a chinntiú go bhfuil eispéireas oideachais ardchaighdeáin agus ábhartha trí mheán na Gaeilge ar fáil i scoileanna Gaeltachta agus, ar an mbealach seo, tacú le húsáid na Gaeilge mar phríomhtheanga na dteaghlach agus na bpobal Gaeltachta. Faoi théarmaí an Pholasaí, déanfar acmhainní teagaisc agus/nó acmhainní eile breise, lena n-áirítear forbairt ghairmiúil leanúnach (FGL) thiomnaithe, a chur ar fáil do scoileanna a gceadaítear a n-iarratais chun páirt a ghlacadh sa phróiseas aitheantais Scoileanna Gaeltachta. Samhlaítear go leithdháilfear acmhainní ar bhonn incriminteach thar thréimhse cúig bliana de réir na gcritéar teanga atá leagtha amach sa Pholasaí don Oideachas Gaeltachta 2017-2022. Bunaíodh Aonad Oideachas Gaeltachta tiomnaithe sa Roinn chun maoirseacht a dhéanamh ar chur chun feidhme an Pholasaí agus chun tacú leis an obair sin. Soláthraíodh cistiú €1m faoi Bhuiséad 2017 chun gur féidir tosú ar an bPolasaí a chur chun feidhme ar bhonn céimnithe.
126. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív den Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna an bhfuil sé i gceist aige liúntas breise neamh-phá €10,000 a chur ar fáil do na meánscoileanna ar na hoileáin de bharr na gcostas breise a bhaineann le scoil a reáchtáil ar oileán; agus an ndéanfaidh sé ráiteas ina thaobh. [6195/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIs san earnáil Bord Oideachais agus Oiliúna atá gach ceann de na hiar-bhunscoileanna atá suite ar na hoileáin. Tá gach ceann díobh lonnaithe i limistéir Ghaeltachta freisin.
Is trí bhlocdheontas a sholáthraítear cistiú deontais le haghaidh costais reáchtála laethúla do gach Bord Oideachais agus Oiliúna, lena n-áirítear dá scoileanna agus dá lárionaid. Dá bhrí sin, soláthraítear ardleibhéal neamhspleáchais do gach Bord Oideachais agus Oiliúna maidir leis an dóigh a leithdháilfidh siad an cistiú deontais chun freastal ar na riachtanais atá ag scoileanna aonair.
Is í an aidhm atá leis an bPolasaí don Oideachas Gaeltachta 2017-2022 ón Roinn, a seoladh an 28 Deireadh Fómhair 2016, ná a chinntiú go bhfuil eispéireas oideachais ardchaighdeáin agus ábhartha trí mheán na Gaeilge ar fáil do na daoine óga uile atá ina gcónaí i limistéir Ghaeltachta agus, ar an mbealach seo, tacú le húsáid na Gaeilge mar phríomhtheanga na dteaghlach agus na bpobal Gaeltachta. Faoi théarmaí an Pholasaí, déanfar acmhainní teagaisc agus/nó acmhainní eile breise, lena n-áirítear forbairt ghairmiúil leanúnach (FGL) thiomnaithe, a chur ar fáil do scoileanna a gceadaítear a n-iarratais chun páirt a ghlacadh sa phróiseas aitheantais Scoileanna Gaeltachta. Samhlaítear go leithdháilfear acmhainní ar bhonn incriminteach thar thréimhse cúig bliana agus go dtabharfar aird le linn na hoibre sin ar na hacmhainní atá leithdháilte cheana féin ar gach scoil nua-aitheanta Ghaeltachta de réir na gcritéar teanga atá leagtha amach sa Pholasaí don Oideachas Gaeltachta 2017-2022.
127. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív den Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna an bhfuil iarratas faighte ag a Roinn ó Bhord Oideachais agus Oiliúna na Gaillimhe agus Ros Comáin ar aitheantas do Choláiste Naomh Eoin, Inis Meáin mar scoil neamhspleách; agus an ndéanfaidh sé ráiteas ina thaobh. [6196/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIs mian liom a chur in iúl don Teachta nach bhfuil aon taifead ag mo Roinn d'iarratas mar ar tagraíodh dó ó Bhord Oideachais agus Oiliúna na Gaillimhe agus Ros Comáin maidir le Coláiste Naomh Eoin, Inis Meáin.
128. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure that an application for additional accommodation from a school (details supplied) in County Kildare is reviewed as soon as possible in view of the urgent need for additional space at the school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6209/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to confirm to the Deputy that the school in question has submitted an application to my Department for capital funding for additional accommodation. The application will be considered and a decision conveyed to the school authority when this process has been completed.
131. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Education and Skills if children who are to move from an Irish-speaking national school to a secondary school taught through Irish are entitled to school transport when their nearest secondary school is an English language school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6234/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
Currently in the region of 114,000 children, including some 10,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million km annually.
In general, under the terms of my Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme, children are eligible for school transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest Gaelcholáiste.
Families wishing to avail of school transport should apply on Bus Éireann's website at www.buseireann.ie.
132. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students over 18 years of age and under 21 years of age who were in full-time secondary education in the past year for which figures are available. [6250/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere were 345,544 students in full time post primary education in the 2015/2016 academic year. Of these 1,441 were over 18 and under 21. Further information is available on the Department's statistical reports available on the website at www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Statistical-Reports/.
133. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools in Dublin which do not have direct access to a National Educational Psychological Service psychologist for the purposes of carrying out an educational assessment, by school, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6256/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware my Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides an educational psychological service to schools through the direct assignment of a NEPS psychologist and in some cases through by providing schools access to the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA) where schools 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. SCPA is utilised, in the main, where as yet unfilled vacancies exist in NEPS staffing provision locally or where staffing resource is lost through extended leave (maternity, sick or carer’s leave).
Included for the Deputy’s information is a list of schools that do not currently have access to a NEPS Psychologist for the purposes of carrying out an assessment in Dublin and which currently derive this service through the abovementioned SCPA scheme. In respect of NEPS staffing, NEPs psychologists are recruited via regional panels formed from national recruitment competitions administered by the Public Appointments service.
In the case of some schools, NEPs psychologists may no longer be assigned to those schools as a result of retirement, resignation or transfer to another NEPs region, and while every effort was made to fill the resulting vacancy during 2016 from the existing PAS panels this was not successful and the panel was closed.
A new national recruitment competition has been put in place by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) to fill vacancies within all NEPS Regions. The resulting interview process associated with this competition was completed last week and recruitment panels for each NEPS region, including Dublin, will now be formed. PAS will finalise the processing of the candidates, including Garda vetting, and propose each candidate in series to my Department Human Resources Section for contract negotiations and formal job offer.
It is envisaged that the process will produce new NEPS psychologists for assignment to schools, including that to which the Deputy refers in his question, by the end of the current academic year.
In addition a number of the assigned NEPS psychologists to schools, included in the attached count, are currently absent due to maternity leave, long-term sick leave or carer’s leave necessitating a temporary hiatus in NEPS coverage. This situation will change as individual staff return to work.
However it is important to point out that in cases where NEPS service is not available through staffing vacancy or temporary absence of staff, as described above, the schools affected continue to have access to a psychologist through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments to undertake pupil assessment work.
I would also confirm that all schools are able to access full NEP supports in the event of a critical incident irrespective of their having ongoing access to an assigned NEPS psychologist or not.
County by County of schools that do not currently have access to a NEPS Psychologist for the purposes of carrying out an educational assessment (ref: 2/2/17)
|
County |
Number of Schools |
|
Dublin |
131 |
134. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the efforts being made to ensure the establishment of special ASD classes in mainstream schools in towns throughout the country in which there are insufficient class spaces available; if the circular governing the establishment of special classes which gives mainstream schools the authority to refuse to set up special classes will be amended to ensure such schools can no longer refuse the establishment of special classes when a need has been identified for them; if the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 will remove the ability for schools to refuse a unit in which a need is identified; the status of this Bill; if he will ensure that mainstream schools that establish such units and special classes will be sufficiently funded to allow for the establishment and running of the units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6257/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Council for Special Education is responsible for organising and planning provision for children with Special Educational Needs, including establishing special classes in mainstream primary and post primary schools.
Progress in developing the network of Special Classes has been significant.
In 2011 there were 548 special classes, of which 224 were primary ASD classes, 72 were post primary ASD classes and 34 were early intervention classes. The remaining 218 were special classes service children with mild to moderate/severe general learning difficulties and specific learning difficulties including speech and language difficulties.
There are currently 1,153 special classes, which is an increase of over 100% on the number available in 2011. Of these, 127 are ASD early intervention classes, 525 are primary ASD classes and 237 are post-primary ASD classes. The remainder are non-ASD special classes.
The NCSE has advised that there are almost 18,000 students with ASD attending schools nationally. Of these 3,484 are attending primary ASD classes and 1,118 are attending post primary ASD classes.
The NCSE continues to review special class placement requirements nationally and have informed the Department that, in general, they are satisfied that there are sufficient ASD special class placements to meet existing demand.
The continued growth in post primary special class numbers is a natural consequence of the earlier growth in primary special class numbers. However, it should not be assumed that the same levels of growth in post primary class numbers should apply. This is because, for children with Autism, transferring from a special class in a primary school to a special class in a post primary school may not always be the optimal choice. Many children can progress to mainstream post primary with support of SNA and Resource Teaching hours, while more may transfer from primary to a special school depending on their presentation and needs.
It should also be noted that there is a proportionally larger enrolment at Primary level due to the higher number of standard years. Of the total enrolment in schools currently 68% of students are enrolled at Primary Level (which includes all Special Schools) and 32% are enrolled at Post Primary level.
As such my Department does not consider the lower number of Post Primary Special classes for students with ASD currently constitutes a shortage of placements.
Notwithstanding this, my Department acknowledges that there are challenges in opening special classes in some Post primary schools. The NCSE is working with these schools to address this.
My Department continues to consider all options to improve the situation, including whether there is a need for legislation. However, my Department is of the view that the legislation option carries significant risks and would clearly prefer that all schools would open classes where needs arise voluntarily. My Department believes that, in the light of recent improvements in Special Class numbers in Post Primary schools, there are some grounds for optimism that schools are becoming more positively disposed to requests to open such classes.
The NCSE guidelines for Boards of Management and Principals of Primary and Post Primary schools contain information on setting up and organising special classes, including information on resources which may be provided to schools to establish special classes as requested by the Deputy. The guidelines are available to download from www.ncse.ie.
Furthermore, it is general practice to include a Special Needs Unit in the accommodation brief for new school buildings, unless local circumstances indicate that it will not be required. In addition, my Department may also provide capital funding to schools to establish special needs provision e.g. reconfigure existing accommodation to provide a special class where this has been approved by the National Council for Special Education through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers.
