Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 March 2018
143. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria for the removal of DEIS status for a school (details supplied); the guidelines under which this was decided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14637/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has, for the first time, introduced an objective, statistics based model for deciding which schools warrant inclusion in the DEIS Programme, so that all stakeholders can have confidence that we are targeting extra resources at those schools with the highest concentrated levels of disadvantage.
A detailed document explaining the methodology used in the new Identification process is available on my Department’s website at www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/DEIS-Identification-Process.pdf.
The school referred to by the Deputy was assessed as part of the overall assessment of all schools using this new identification process in early 2017 and was deemed not to have a concentrated level of disadvantage within its student cohort such as to warrant support under the DEIS Programme.
The school in question is a new school established in September 2015 following the amalgamation of 2 schools, one DEIS and one non-DEIS. Accordingly, as with all schools in this situation prior to the current school year, it will receive additional funding in respect of the pupil cohort of the former DEIS school until the end of the 2022/2023 school year.
Schools included in DEIS with effect from September 2017 are those whose level of disadvantage has been identified as those schools serving the highest concentrations of disadvantage among their pupil cohort. Schools which have not been included at this stage are those which have not been identified as having the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage amongst their pupil cohort, under the new identification model. This is the first step in a process and the fact that a school has not been included now does not preclude its inclusion at a later date, should assessment indicate a level of disadvantage that warrants additional supports.
An update of the identification model is currently underway in my Department. This will take account of updated school data as provided by schools for the current school year combined with the Pobal HP Index of Deprivation, based on Small Area Population statistics derived from the 2016 National Census. It is envisaged that this process will be completed shortly.
Should this exercise reveal that any school, which did not qualify for DEIS in 2017, meets the criteria applicable to schools with the highest concentration of disadvantage based on the updated information then additional schools may be included in the Programme, subject to available resources.
