Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 April 2017
249. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools per county that have contacted his Department to request that they be included in the new Delivering Equality of Opportunities in Schools, DEIS, scheme since the updated list was announced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16205/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe number of schools per county that have contacted my Department to request that they be included in the DEIS, either directly or by representation, is detailed in the following table.
|
County |
Number of Schools |
|
Carlow |
3 |
|
Cavan |
1 |
|
Clare |
2 |
|
Cork |
6 |
|
Donegal |
13 |
|
Dublin |
16 |
|
Galway |
7 |
|
Kerry |
3 |
|
Kildare |
2 |
|
Laois |
1 |
|
Leitrim |
1 |
|
Limerick |
2 |
|
Louth |
1 |
|
Mayo |
5 |
|
Meath |
3 |
|
Monaghan |
2 |
|
Offaly |
1 |
|
Roscommon |
3 |
|
Sligo |
3 |
|
Tipperary |
7 |
|
Waterford |
2 |
|
Wexford |
6 |
|
Wicklow |
1 |
All schools in the country across both the Primary and Post Primary sectors have been assessed in terms of the socio-economic background of their pupil cohort using centrally held data. This process has determined the level of concentrated disadvantage across the school system and identifies those schools in need of the greatest level of support.
The key data sources include the DES Primary Online Database (POD) and Post-Primary Online (PPOD) Databases as populated by schools and the CSO Small Area of Population (SAP) data from the National Census of Population 2011 as represented by the Pobal HP Deprivation Index (HP Index). Variables used in the compilation of the HP Index include those related to demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates. This data is combined with pupil data, anonymised and aggregated to small area, to provide information on the relative level of concentrated disadvantage present in the pupil cohort of individual schools. This data is applied uniformly across all schools in the country.
In its initial application, the new identification model has identified that there are schools in disadvantaged areas, not previously included in DEIS, whose level of disadvantage is at the same level as the current DEIS category for schools serving the highest concentrations of disadvantage. Accordingly, we are moving as a first step to include these schools in the DEIS Programme with effect from September 2017.
