Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 February 2017
200. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to his correspondence (details supplied), the status of the review of the DEIS programme; when the review will be finalised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7014/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware, DEIS Plan 2017 was launched yesterday.
The DEIS Plan presents an ambitious set of objectives and actions to support children and young people who are at greatest risk of educational disadvantage, and introduces over 100 actions to support:
- A new methodology for the identification of schools
- A more effective system of resource allocation to ensure that resources are matched to identified education need in schools
- Better interdepartmental and interagency working to achieve more effective delivery of services in and around schools
- A pilot approach to introduce measures which have been show to work well in improving educational outcomes
- A monitoring and evaluation framework to gather better information on school performance
The Plan builds on the experiences of existing DEIS schools and draws on international best practice. It sets out new targets to:
- Further improve literacy and numeracy
- Improve school completion rates
- Improve progression to further and higher education
The Plan identifies more than 100 actions in support of tackling educational disadvantage to ensure that children at greatest risk of educational disadvantage can achieve their potential. These include:
As an immediate action under the Plan over 100 additional schools identified will receive extra supports with some 20,000 pupils benefitting. Details of these schools are available on my Department's website at http://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/DEIS-Plan-2017-New-DEIS-Schools-List.pdf
The fact that a school has not been included in the programme on this occasion does not preclude its inclusion at a later date, should its level of disadvantage warrant the allocation of additional resources.
The new DEIS school support programme will be implemented from September 2017, with ongoing work with education partners and other stakeholders to ensure successful delivery of its objectives.
