Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2017
153. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) was not allocated a classification as a DEIS 1 urban school; if this school was incorrectly classified as a DEIS 2 school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40328/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraWe have, for the first time, put in place an objective statistics based model for which schools are in or out of the DEIS Plan, so that all stakeholders can have confidence that we are targeting extra resources at areas of greatest need.
This model uses data supplied by schools to my Department's Primary and Post Primary Online Databases and CSO Small Area of Population statistics from the National Census of Population as represented by the Pobal HP Deprivation 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 was applied uniformly to all schools in the country in a fair and objective way, to identify the relative level of concentrated disadvantage present in each school.
The identification process indicated that the school referred to by the Deputy had a relative level of disadvantage which did not merit its upgrading from its current Band 2 status to Band 1 status at this time.
In June, a communication issued to every school in the country explaining the Identification Methodology by way of a detailed 22-page document which is available on the Department’s website at https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/DEIS-Identification-Process.pdf
It is important to note that the fact that a school has not been included in the DEIS programme at Band 1 level on this occasion does not preclude its inclusion at a later date, should its level of disadvantage warrant the allocation of additional resources.
