Thomas Byrne
Ceist:168. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to reverse the 2011 cuts to Traveller education supports. [15072/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 2 April 2019
Ceisteanna (168)
Freagraí scríofa
My Department recognises the importance of inclusive education and is supportive of actions that will ensure that the school setting is a more welcoming environment for all, including Travellers. In keeping with this principle, additional resources provided in the education system are allocated on the basis of identified individual educational need.
A key objective of Traveller education policy in recent years has been the phasing out of segregated Traveller provision and the inclusion of Traveller children and young people in mainstream education. Funding for segregated Traveller provision has been incorporated into overall school and other funding streams in order to provide supports for Traveller pupils in mainstream schools. Such supports include:
- Investment of some €125 million in my Department's DEIS Plan for educational inclusion. The DEIS programme provides for smaller class sizes and other supports including additional teaching posts, Home School Community Liaison Coordinators, DEIS grants, enhanced book grants, curriculum supports, priority access to Continuing Professional Development and the School Excellence Fund for DEIS. Up until 2011 Traveller pupils attending a DEIS school, but who were supported by an Resource Teacher for Travellers (RTT), were not counted as part of the valid enrolment for the implementation of the enhanced pupil teacher ratios. When the Traveller pupils were no longer supported by RTTs, the compensatory measure proposed for DEIS schools was to apply the DEIS Band 1 pupil teacher ratios to include Traveller pupils, for the purposes of determining the level of mainstream teaching staff in the relevant DEIS schools. There were 81 alleviation posts as a result.
- New Model for allocating special education teaching resources to schools which includes a baseline component provided to every mainstream school to support inclusion, prevention of learning difficulties and early intervention.
- Since the end of 2018 there were 15,000 Special Needs Assistants directly supporting 34,670 children and Budget 2019 made provision for an additional 950 SNA posts, which will bring the total allowable Whole Time Equivalent SNA posts at 31 December 2019 to 15,950.
- National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) who work with both primary and post-primary schools and are concerned with learning, behaviour, social and emotional development. Since 2011, sanctioned NEPS psychologist numbers have grown from 173 Whole time equivalents (WTE) to 194 WTEs with a further 10 psychologist posts provided for under Budget 2019 for the 2019/20 school year. Currently NEPS psychologist numbers stand at 183 Whole Time Equivalent staff.
In addition all children including traveller children are supported by the integrated Educational Welfare Service of Tusla. The Department of Education and Skills works closely with TUSLA Educational and Welfare service in relation to attendance in schools.
Over and above the supports outlined above provided within the mainstream system, a number of Traveller-specific supports remain in place within the education system:-
- In addition to the 81 posts allocated to DEIS schools following the inclusion of Traveller pupils as outlined above, 60 posts were allocated as alleviation posts to other schools with a large number of Traveller pupils supported by what were previously Resource Teachers for Travellers.
- Enhanced primary level pupil capitation for Traveller pupils at a rate of €70 per pupil at a cost of €547,960 in 2018.
- Enhanced post-primary level pupil capitation for Traveller pupils at a rate of €201 per pupil at a cost of €585,714 in 2018.
- My Department is also one of the key partners in a cross-departmental Pilot initiative being developed under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, to support Traveller and Roma attendance, participation and retention. Additional supports have been provided to support this pilot project in the form of Home School Community Liaison Officers funded by my Department, in addition to Traveller Education Workers funded by the Department of Justice and Equality and Educational Welfare Officers employed by TUSLA.