Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 May 2018
84. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools supported by the school excellence fund; his plans for the fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22276/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is my ambition to ensure that Ireland’s Education and Training service is the best in Europe by 2026. In that regard, I want to promote innovation and excellence at all levels of our education system. I recognise that we also need to reward excellence in our schools. There are many, many people in the school system with very good ideas. The introduction of the School Excellence Fund will enable them and their schools to adopt more creative and innovative practices which will support improved outcomes for students in our schools.
There are a number of strands in the School Excellence Fund. There are approximately 265 schools involved in the Digital, STEM and DEIS strands of the School Excellence Fund. The various strands of the School Excellence Fund are at different stages of development; while work in some schools has already begun to take shape, work in others will commence in September next.
It is my intention to increase, over time, the number of schools that will participate in the project. For example, the closing date for participation in the Creative strand of the School Excellence Fund has just passed and the closing date for participation in the Step-up strand is fast approaching. As these strands commence, additional schools will be involved in the project, while approximately forty further schools will participate in phase two of the DEIS strand.
Participation in one of the strands of the School Excellence Fund will require schools and school leaders to collaborate, to network and to rise to the challenge of having the freedom to try things. For example, participation in the School Excellence Fund-DEIS will enable schools to access the funding that will allow them to adopt their own creative ideas and approaches in their efforts to improve learning outcomes for their students. In this and in other strands of the School Excellence Fund, I particularly welcome the involvement of local third level institutions and of businesses in many of the really good projects that we have already considered.
I fully appreciate that not everything that will be tried in the School Excellence Fund strands will work. However, in terms of learning for the Department and for the schools, that is equally as important as finding out what will work effectively. In short, I hope that the School Excellence Fund will help us to figure out not just what works, but what works best.
