Written Answers Nos. 201-219
201. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills if special needs assistants have been allocated to primary schools for the incoming school year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29558/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraSpecial Needs Assistants (SNAs) are provided to assist recognised schools to cater for pupils with disabilities, who have additional and significant care needs, in an educational context and where the nature of these care needs have been outlined in medical and other professional reports as being so significant that a pupil will require additional adult assistance in order to be able to attend school and to participate in education.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school.
The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014, which is available on my Department's website at www.education.ie, in order that students who have care needs can access SNA support as and when it is needed. My Department’s policy is to ensure that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to such support.
The level of SNA support allocated to schools can change from year to year, as students with care needs leave the school, as new students with care needs enrol, or as students develop more independent living skills as they get older and their care needs diminish over time.
All schools were asked to apply for SNA support for the 2017/18 school year by 6th April 2017. The NCSE continues to process applications for access to SNA support which are received after the April deadline. Such applications will be processed in the order in which the applications are received. Schools will be advised shortly of their SNA allocations for the 2017/18 school year.
Where a school wishes to appeal the SNA support allocation which has been made to them, they may do so through the NCSE appeal process, details of which are set out at www.ncse.ie.
All schools have the contact details of their local SENO and parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.
202. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to address the issues raised in the report of the working group on teaching supply; the steps to be taken and the timeframes to address the issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29567/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe final report of the Technical Working Group on teacher supply, ‘Striking the Balance’ was published on 9 June 2017. The report focuses on the development of a model of primary teacher supply, while outlining the work which will be required to establish a sustainable long term model of post primary teacher supply.
The report sets out an approach to planning which scopes out the work necessary to develop a model for achieving a better balance between teacher supply and demand in the medium to long term.
Officials of my Department are now considering how the development of a model can be progressed, from within available resources. The necessary actions will include engagement with the HEA in order to ensure that the supply of teachers meets demand and there is the correct balance of teachers in each of the various subject areas, as well as measures to address data requirements, particularly at post primary level.
The Deputy will be aware that, in conjunction with the publication of the report, I announced a number of measures to increase the pool of teachers available to schools, in particular to fill short term vacancies. These measures are to be considered over the coming period with a view to having in place, where appropriate, for the beginning of the 2017/18 school year. They include: ensuring, in as far as is possible, that as many retiring and retired teachers remain on the Teaching Council register; increasing the limits for employment for a teacher while on career break; bringing to the attention of schools that final year B. Ed. and Professional Masters in Education students may be employed in for periods of up to 5 consecutive days.
203. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for the delay in the completion of a college (details supplied); if the work can be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29569/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe project to which the Deputy refers was authorised to proceed to tender in October 2016. Tenders are due back in mid-July.
Subject to no issues arising it is anticipated that construction will commence in late 2017 and the project is scheduled to take approximately 18 months to complete.
Following requests from other members of the Oireachtas, including Deputy Alan Farrell and Senator James Reilly, to arrange a meeting with representatives of the school, I have requested my staff to contact the Deputies and the school authority, Dublin-Dunlaoghaire ETB to arrange such a meeting. I have requested that the ETB, the school and all Deputies in the area will be invited to the meeting to discuss the progress of this project.
204. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the review of Caranua; the names and positions of those undertaking the review; the process and criteria for their selection; the timeline for the completion of the review; the form the review is to take; the terms of reference for the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29571/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe terms of reference for the review are being finalized and will be in the public domain shortly. It is envisaged that the initial phase of the review will be conducted by an economist on secondment to my Department from the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service and that this initial phase will be concluded before the end of the summer.
205. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the staffing complement of his Department in whole-time equivalents as at the end of 2016. [29602/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can advise the Deputy that the staffing complement of my Department in whole time equivalents as at the end of 2016 was 1203.24.
This figure excludes 21.5 temporary staff and 15.63 staff on long term unpaid leave.
206. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for a site following amalgamation to form a school (details supplied); the body which has responsibility for this building; the body which the community should contact to establish new uses for this building; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29622/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis building referred to is not in my ownership. Queries by third parties in relation to the future use of the building are best directed to the property owner.
The patron of the schools referred to is the Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, and queries in relation to the property referred to might be best directed to the Diocesan office in the first instance.
207. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills when the special needs assistants allocation for a school (details supplied) will be provided for the incoming school year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29628/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraSpecial Needs Assistants (SNAs) are provided to assist recognised schools to cater for pupils with disabilities, who have additional and significant care needs, in an educational context and where the nature of these care needs have been outlined in medical and other professional reports as being so significant that a pupil will require additional adult assistance in order to be able to attend school and to participate in education.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school.
The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014, which is available on my Department's website at www.education.ie, in order that students who have care needs can access SNA support as and when it is needed. My Department’s policy is to ensure that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to such support.
The level of SNA support allocated to schools can change from year to year, as students with care needs leave the school, as new students with care needs enrol, or as students develop more independent living skills as they get older and their care needs diminish over time.
All schools were asked to apply for SNA support for the 2017/18 school year by 6th April 2017. The NCSE continues to process applications for access to SNA support which are received after the April deadline. Such applications will be processed in the order in which the applications are received. Schools will be advised shortly of their SNA allocations for the 2017/18 school year.
Where a school wishes to appeal the SNA support allocation which has been made to them, they may do so through the NCSE appeal process, details of which are set out at www.ncse.ie.
All schools have the contact details of their local SENO and parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.
208. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if an emergency grant has been awarded to a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29668/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe school to which the Deputy refers applied to my Department for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme for structural improvements to the school building.
My Planning and Building Unit has requested additional information from the school authority and once this is received and assessed a final decision will issue directly to the school authority.
209. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will process an application by a school (details supplied) to develop its accommodation in view of the fact that its current arrangements are not fulfilling its health and safety responsibilities to the pupils and staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29669/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise 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 will be conveyed to the school authority as soon as the assessment process has been completed.
210. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason his Department declared only 1,000 submissions were received as part of the public consultation process on the role of religion in school admissions; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that over 1,600 further submissions were sent via email raising the number of submissions sent to his Department to at least 2,600 in total; if he has explored the possibility that online emails may have been caught up by his Department's email spam filter; if same can be rectified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29682/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraOfficials in my Department have confirmed that 923 written submissions were received to the dedicated email address admissions_religion@education.gov.ie that was set up to facilitate receipt of written submissions to the Consultation on the role of denominational religion in the school admissions process and possible approaches for making changes.
I am not aware of any further submissions and I can confirm that my Department's email filter did not detect any submissions that were not released.
211. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will respond to correspondence dated 13 April 2017 from a group (details supplied); and if he will meet representatives of the group to discuss the way in which it can secure an alternative premises to continue its valuable work. [29685/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am aware of the issues here and of the efforts being taken to find an alternative location and have already arranged with officials from my Department and CDETB to convene a meeting with representatives from the group.
212. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding Traveller support and services provided by his Department in each county; the groups, agencies and voluntary bodies involved; the cost of same for each county for the past three years and to date in 2017; his plans to set up an advisory group to report on the minimum levels of support and services from his Department that should be available in each county to address the needs and the rights of Travellers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29691/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraEducation provision for Travellers and Roma is provided in accordance with my Department’s policy of inclusion. A number of Traveller-specific supports remain in the system to assist with the transition to the mainstream system of pupils, previously provided for in segregated provision. These comprise of 141 alleviation resource teacher posts for schools with significant numbers of Travellers at a current cost of €8.46 million and additional pupil capitation for Travellers at a current cost of €1.11m (€70 per Primary pupil and €201 per Post Primary pupil). In the past 3 years a total of €30.3 million has been spend on additional supports for traveller pupils in the school system.
Education provision for Travellers and Roma is made on a national basis as is my Department’s engagement with Traveller representative groups which takes place in the context of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion strategy.
Implementation of the education component of the national strategy is being undertaken in the context of DEIS Plan 2017 which identifies more than 100 actions in support of tackling educational disadvantage to ensure that every child, including Traveller and Roma children, can achieve their potential. Those actions include:
-A renewed focus on measures to improve attendance, participation and retention of Travellers, Roma and other students at particular risk of poor engagement with education and early school leaving;
-Collaboration between the DES, Tusla and Traveller Representative Groups on measures to improve Traveller and Roma engagement with education in the context of the National Traveller & Roma Inclusion Strategy;
-An evaluation of current Traveller-specific resources in schools.
DEIS Plan 2017 actions in relation to Travellers and Roma reflect the need for improved collaboration between the DES, Tusla, and Traveller representative groups to achieve increased attendance, retention and progression levels for Traveller children and young people in order to improve their prospects of better educational outcomes and overall life chances.
Also, my Department’s National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-19 contains a number of specific measures to increase the number of students from under-represented groups, including Travellers and Roma in higher education and implementation measures include the recently announced allocation of €2.4m over three years to provide for increased diversity in initial teacher education.
213. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students over the past five years who have been unable to sit the State examinations due to a family bereavement or illness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29705/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations.
In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.
214. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Education and Skills the procedures in place for students who are unable to sit the State examinations due to exceptional circumstances such as an illness or a bereavement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29706/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations.
In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.
215. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the application by a person (details supplied) for voluntary adaptation period. [29722/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is considering the correspondence from the person to whom the Deputy refers and a response will issue to her in due course.
216. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if students from Northern Ireland wishing to enter colleges here in 2017 will be treated as EU students for fee purposes; if this status will remain for the duration of their course; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29726/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has confirmed with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) that any eligible UK students who enrol for eligible courses for the 2017/18 academic year in a third level college recognised for the purposes of free fees will be able to avail of the Department's Free Fee Schemes.
Eligibility under the Free Fees Initiative Scheme is determined at date of entry to the course.
The arrangements for an intake of such students for subsequent years will be kept under review in the context of the Brexit negotiations.
217. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the result of an appeal by a school (details supplied) regarding its special needs allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29727/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools were published on 7th March 2017.
These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.
The revised allocation model replaces the generalised allocation process at primary and post primary school level for learning support and high incidence special educational needs, and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocation process which provided additional resource teaching supports to schools, to support pupils assessed as having Low Incidence disabilities.
The new model provides one single allocation to every school in the country based on the profile. Schools will be frontloaded with resources to provide additional teaching support to all pupils who need such support.
Allocations based on the school profiles were issued to all schools, including the schools referred to my the Deputy on 7th March.
The aim of this new model is to deliver better outcomes for children with special educational needs. Substantial research, analysis, consultation with service users and stakeholders, and piloting have gone in to the development of this model and all of the evidence points to the fact that this new system will deliver better outcomes for children.
No school will lose supports as a result of the implementation of the new model. In addition, no school will receive an allocation, for the support of pupils with complex needs, less than the allocation they received to support such pupils during the 2016/17 school year. No allocation made for such pupils by the NCSE will be removed from schools as long as that pupil remains in the school.
An additional 900 teaching posts have been provided to support the introduction of this new allocation model. The provision of an additional 900 teaching posts is a very significant investment in the provision of additional teaching support for pupils with special educational needs in our schools. This is additional to an increase of 41% in the number of resource teachers allocated to schools annually by the NCSE since 2011.
The additional funding will provide additional supports to over 1200 schools who are identified as needing additional supports as a result of the new model. Supports for children with special educational needs is a key priority for this Government.
The NCSE has published details of the appeals process on the NCSE website: www.ncse.ie.
Schools who wished to submit an appeal were asked to do so by March 31st 2017.
The NCSE has confirmed that an appeal has been received from the school referred to by the Deputy.
The appeals are currently being processed and it is intended that schools will shortly be notified of the outcome.
Schools could appeal whether the data used to calculate their school profile was correct and complete and whether it was correctly applied in the calculation of their 2017/18 allocation.
DES Circulars 0013/2017 and 0014/2017 outline the basis on which the Education Research Centre determined the allocations for all schools.
In advance of any submission of an appeal, schools were asked to read carefully the DES Circulars and in particular the relevant sections, which relate to the breakdown of the allocation, which may be under consideration for appeal.
The model will also allow for some additional provision for exceptional circumstances or where a school’s enrolment levels increase very substantially prior to the next review of the model. The National Council for Special Education will support schools in managing their special education teaching allocations in the first instance. Only in very exceptional circumstances, where it can be demonstrated that the schools profile has changed very significantly since the allocation was made to the school, may an additional allocation of hours be made to the school.
Guidelines for schools on the organisation, deployment and use of their special education teachers to address the need of pupils with special educational needs have also now been published and are available on my Departments website.
The Guidelines will support schools to reflect on how they can review and manage their timetabling practices to ensure the timetable is sufficiently flexible to meet the needs of all pupils in their school who have special needs. The Guidelines encourage schools to ensure they deploy their resources appropriately to meet the needs of all of the children in their school who require additional teaching support, including pupils with emerging needs, or new entrants.
218. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of teachers at secondary level that are employed on contracts of less than ten hours per week; the number of secondary level teachers employed on temporary contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29731/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are 278 teachers at secondary level that are employed on contracts of less than ten hours per week. There are 3,160 secondary level teachers employed on temporary contracts.
Teachers employed by the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) are paid on their individual payrolls. The information in relation to the ETBs would have to be obtained from them individually.
It is a matter for the managerial authority of a school to determine the number of hours allocated to an individual teacher during a school year.
My Department has taken significant steps in recent years to address the issue of casualisation and to improve the situation of part-time teachers. Under the terms of public service agreements, my Department has implemented recommendations of the Ward Report and a revised sequence for filling available teaching posts/hours in schools. Both of these measures enable fixed-term and part-time teachers to gain permanent, full-time jobs more easily and quickly than before.
219. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to take action to reduce the burden of voluntary contributions on parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29737/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraVoluntary contributions by parents are permissible provided it is made absolutely clear to parents that there is no question of compulsion to pay and that, in making a contribution, they are doing so of their own volition.
The manner in which voluntary contributions are sought and collected is a matter for school management, however their collection should be such as not to create a situation where either parents or pupils could reasonably infer that the contributions take on a compulsory character.
If parents have a concern that there is some compulsion regarding contributions in a school, they can bring the matter to the attention of my Department who will follow up with the school in question.
Apart from those recognised fee-charging second level schools, recognised primary and post primary schools are precluded from charging school fees. No charge may be made, in respect of instruction in any subject of the school curriculum or for recreation or other activities where all pupils are expected to take part.
However, it is permissible for a school to seek payments in respect of extra-curricular activities provided such activities are not obligatory and individual pupils can choose whether or not to participate. My Department's Circular 0065/2010 clarifies certain charges that may be legitimately requested from pupils.
The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016, which was published on 6th July 2016, contains a provision prohibiting the charging of fees or seeking payment or contributions for an application for admission to a school or for the enrolment or continued enrolment of a student in a school. The Bill will proceed to Committee Stage on 28th June 2017.
I believe that schools need to be accountable to parents and we need greater levels of communication, engagement and transparency in how schools serve their communities. Better information for parents, including information in relation to the collection and use of voluntary contributions, is an issue that I will be looking at in the context of my Department's work on a Parents' and Students' Charter.
On 5 December 2016, I published the General Scheme of an Education (Parent and Student Charter) Bill 2016. The Government have approved the draft outline of a new law, which when enacted will require every school to consult with parents and students, and publish and operate a Parent and Student Charter.
