Written Answers Nos. 190-204
190. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Education further to Parliamentary Question No. 459 of 29 September 2020, the way in which she expects schools to be able to continue to pay the wages of secretaries and caretakers, which were increased between 2016 and 2019; if she is withdrawing the financial support that made the increases possible; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30751/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, following an arbitration process a cumulative pay increase of 10% between 2016 and 2019 was awarded for staff and a minimum hourly pay rate of €13 was phased in over that period. This arrangement applied to all recognised Primary Schools and Post-Primary schools in the Free Education Scheme and was designed to be of greatest benefit to secretaries and caretakers being paid the national minimum wage of €8.65 per hour or less.
Under section 24 of the Education Act, 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act, 2012) the board of management is the employer of teachers and other staff of the school and has a duty to comply with current legislation including payment of the national minimum wage.
Where schools, like the one referred to by the Deputy, were paying less than the national minimum hourly rate at that time, additional funding was made available to assist them in meeting the costs associated with the increase during the period of the agreement.
Schools are permitted to regard the capitation and ancillary grants as a combined grant and in the period since 2015 there has been a combined increase in the rate of these grants of €37 per pupil. Furthermore, these grants are paid based on a minimum enrolment of 60 pupils. In 2020 the school referred to by the Deputy received circa €21,000 in standard capitation related funding. A further €3,046 funding has also been made available to support the school in reopening in recognition of the challenges faced in ensuring the safe return of students and staff in the context of COVID-19.
It is a matter for each individual school to decide how best to apply the grant funding to suit its particular needs.
191. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Education if the Teaching Council will allow the registration of a person (details supplied) to proceed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30758/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 the Teaching Council is the body with the statutory authority and responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession in Ireland including the registration of teachers in the State.
It is a function of the Council under the Teaching Council Acts (s7(2)) to act as the competent authority for recognition of qualifications obtained by a person who has applied under this Act for registration as a teacher. A person who has completed teacher education qualifications outside the State and is seeking to register with the Teaching Council must have their qualifications assessed to determine that they are comparable and equivalent to accredited qualifications in Ireland.
In unique cases where an applicant for registration cannot source some or all of the original documentation relating to qualifications, the Director of the Teaching Council has the discretion to allow the applicant to provide a sworn affidavit that confirms they have successfully completed the qualification that forms part of the basis of the application for registration. In this process, the applicant must satisfy the Director of efforts made to locate documentation. Where the Director approves the affidavit, the Teaching Council Qualifications Panel, comprising members of the Teaching Council, will review the application.
The Teaching Council have informed me that they will contact the person referred to by the Deputy in relation to their option to provide a sworn affidavit.
192. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education if she will respond to an application submitted to her Department by a school (details supplied); if she will engage with the schools to bring about the best outcome for the school community; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30769/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can confirm that my Department is in receipt of an application for change of status from the school referred to by the Deputy. This application is under assessment and once complete, the school authority will be contacted directly with a decision.
193. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education if a reply will issue to a query from a person (details supplied). [30772/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraWith regard to the person to whom Deputy Ring refers, a detailed reply to the queries raised in the previous correspondence was issued by the Pension Unit. Simultaneously, details of pension entitlements including gratuity and pension amount, which incorporated previously transferred service, were communicated to the person in question. The Pension Unit has been in direct contact with Deputy Ring's office relating to this person's case, and with the person in question. Further clarification is being provided to the person by the Pension Unit to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion.
194. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education if the case of a person (details supplied) will be reviewed; the status of the application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30784/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 the Teaching Council is the body with statutory authority and responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession in Ireland including the registration of teachers in the State.
Teachers whose applications meet all the necessary requirements are registered by the Teaching Council under Section 31 of the Teaching Council Act and the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations 2016, as amended.
The person referred to by the Deputy should continue to liaise directly with the Teaching Council and follow their guidance regarding their registration.
195. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Minister for Education her plans to reduce class sizes as outlined in the programme for Government; and if there are additional allocations in budget 2021 to progress the reduction of class sizes. [30809/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am acutely aware of the issues faced by many schools in respect of teacher allocations and class sizes. Under the Programme for Government there is a commitment to seek to make further progress in reducing the pupil teacher ratios in primary schools.
Previous budgets of 2016 and 2018 improved the staffing schedule by one point on both occasions to its historically lowest level ever of 1 teacher to 26 pupils. Primary schools are currently provided with class teachers on the basis of one teacher for every 26 pupils which is at its historically lowest level.
I am delighted to build further on this progress by announcing a further 1 point reduction in Budget 2021.
The staffing schedule for the 2021/22 academic year now stands at 1 teacher for every 25 pupils. This measure will help ensure better teacher retention in primary schools while also ensuring that less pupils are required to retain or recruit a teacher.
Teacher numbers at primary level have increased by almost 3,500 when comparing the 2015/16 school year with the 2019/20 school year and this has led to a steady improvement in the pupil teacher ratio and average class size statistics during this period.
The latest figures in relation to pupil teacher ratio show an improved ratio of teachers to students from 16:1 to 15:1 at primary level when comparing the 2015/16 school year to the 2019/20 school year. Average class sizes improved from 24.9 to 24.1 in the same period. The most recent budget announcement will continue the positive trend of improving class sizes.
196. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Minister for Education her plans to invest in special needs assistants as committed to in the programme for Government; and if there have been allocations in budget 2021 to progress this aim. [30810/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe provision of education for children with special needs is an ongoing priority for Government.
The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and Special Needs Assistants are at unprecedented levels.
My Department will spend approximately €2 Billion, or over 20% of its total educational budget on making additional provision for children with special educational needs in 2021.
This represents an increase of over 50% in total expenditure since 2011, at which point €1.247 Billion per annum was provided.
Following Budget 2021, there are 18,000 Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts will be allocated to primary, post primary and special schools for next year.
This will represent an increase of increase of 70% in the number of SNAs provided since 2011 at which point 10,575 SNAs were available.
There are currently 16,969 Special Needs Assistants allocated to schools.
197. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Minister for Education her plans to increase the capacity of the NEPS; and if there were additional allocations in budget 2021 to progress same. [30812/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraNEPS’ sanctioned psychologist numbers have grown from a base of 173 whole-time equivalents (w.t.e.) in 2016, through the intervening Budget increases in 2017-2019 to 204 w.t.e. psychologist posts. This Government remains firmly committed to the maintenance of a robust and effective educational psychological service. In this connection, as part of a package of measures to support the reopening of our schools the provision of an additional seventeen psychologist posts to NEPS was announced bringing overall sanctioned numbers to 221 w.t.e. psychologist posts.
Currently NEPS has 201 w.t.e. psychologists in place with 3 existing vacancies and 17 new posts to be filled from the new regional panels formed following completion of a recent recruitment competition by the Public Appointments Service in August 2020. This recruitment is currently in train.
Separate financing has been secured to support two particular projects in schools in relation to the provision of augmented services to schools, including educational psychology services. At present seven psychologist posts have been deployed to reduce pupil to psychologist ratio and enhance the level of service to schools in the SIM pilot project and the North East Inner City (NEIC) City-Connects Project. The enhanced NEPS service in these projects allows for increased capacity building at school level and substantially increased access to in-depth and sustained engagement in individual casework. Together these preventative and individualised measures aim to ensure access to timely and appropriate support for those students who may be most vulnerable to being placed on reduced timetables in the absence of that support.
Finally, Budget 2021, has sanctioned an increase of NEPS psychologists by 30, to support the expansion of the School Inclusion Model to support children and young people with special educational needs. This will bring the overall permanent sanctioned numbers in NEPS to 251 in 2021.
198. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Minister for Education her plans to ensure that all primary school children have adequate IT access in order that they can avail of home-based or blended learning should the Covid-19 pandemic require a further closure of schools. [30813/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs a contingency for any future school closures, whether localised or at a bigger scale, and to ensure compliance with any public health restrictions, it is essential that all schools are prepared and have in place appropriate measures to continue to deliver teaching and learning whether for closure of a class group or the school. This also applies where individual learners may be advised not to attend school, whether for the purposes of self isolation or because they are in the very high risk category. In this regard, my Department is in the process of drafting a circular that will issue to schools to help in their preparation for such eventualities. The circular will provide guidance and support to schools, building on the work already done by schools, to put in place arrangements to facilitate communication with and between staff, between staff and learners and to facilitate online approaches to remote and blended learning as required. My Department is engaging with education stakeholders, including unions and management bodies, to finalise the circular.
Responsibility for ensuring that learners receive appropriate support to engage adequately with learning remains with the school in which they are enrolled. Regular and ongoing communication between school and home will be essential to support engagement with learning and continuous connection with classmates and school community. Additional supports will be provided for these learners from within the staffing resources of the school. Schools will have discretion to manage and redistribute their support resources in order to best meet the learning needs of their pupils and students.
Resources to support schools and teachers to the transition to distance learning using technology, including blended learning approaches, are being provided by the Department support service, the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), at www.pdst.ie/DistanceLearning.
As part of the implementation of the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 - Enhancing Teaching, Learning and Assessment, funding of €210m for ICT Infrastructure will be distributed by my Department to primary and second level schools over the five years of the Strategy. €110m has issued over the last three years and a further €50m has recently been issued in respect of the 2019-2020 school year. It is expected a further tranche of €50m will issue in the 2020-2021 school year.
This ICT Grant funding issues to schools, as schools are best placed to identify the requirements of their own student cohort and to meet those requirements. In the context of the current public health crisis this funding can be focussed on assisting schools to address ICT needs including devices, software and other ICT solutions to support the provision of remote learning. This can include the purchase of ICT devices that can be shared with students who do not have access to devices, essential learning platforms and other ICT infrastructure to support the provision of remote learning.
Information as to the broadband connectivity available to individual children in their homes would not be available to my Department. In the context of the National Broadband Plan Intervention area implementation, the Department of the are addressing the needs of those areas with poor connectivity.
199. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Education the educational provision available for a person (details supplied); and her plans to make additional specialist placements available at the person's school. [30825/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraEnsuring that every child has a suitable school placement is a key objective of this Department. Significant resources are allocated each year to ensure that appropriate supports are available for children with special educational needs.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide; has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents; and seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special education placements.
The NCSE is actively engaged in planning a further expansion of special class and special school places nationally to meet identified need for this school-year and beyond. This process is ongoing.
It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, is made available to the school. My Department works closely with the NCSE in this regard.
The NCSE's local Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise both schools and the parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available at: https://ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list.
In circumstances, where no placement is available for a child with special educational needs, the Department can provide Home Tuition grant funding towards the provision of 20 hours home tuition per week as an interim measure until the NCSE confirms that a placement is available.
Home Tuition will not however be available where a school placement has been identified by the NCSE. Similarly, failure to enrol a child in school will not give rise to eligibility under this scheme.
The parents of the child referred to by the Deputy are encouraged to continue to liaise with their local SENO in relation to securing a suitable placement for their child.
200. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education if school transport will be provided in an area for persons (details supplied); her plans to provide a direct service from the general location of the homes of the persons; the reason this transport issue has not been resolved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30826/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraSchool Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over €219m in 2019.
The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
Under the terms of the School Transport Scheme Primary children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 kms from and are attending their nearest national school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
Bus Éireann has confirmed that an extension to an existing school transport service is being put in place. Bus Éireann has also confirmed that they will be in contact with the families concerned to advise them of their transport arrangements.
201. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education the number of applicants for the school bus transport scheme for the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years, by the categories of concessionary and eligible. [30844/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraSchool Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over €219m in 2019.
The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. Under the terms of my Department’s School Transport Scheme, children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2kms at primary and 4.8kms at post-primary and are attending their nearest School/Education Centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
School Transport services for commenced on the 26th August for the 2020/21 school year. All children who are eligible for school transport and who applied and paid by the deadline have been accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only and will be facilitated where spare seats are available after eligible children have been accommodated. Where the number of ineligible children exceeds the number of spare seats available Bus Éireann allocates tickets for the spare seats using an agreed selection process.
Bus Éireann has confirmed details for the number of applicants for the mainstream school transport scheme for the academic years 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, broken down into eligible and ineligible (concessionary) and this information is set out in the table below. These figures include all mainstream applications including pupils who were issued with a ticket, pupils who paid but did not receive a ticket, applications where there was no service available, closed applications, applications where no payment/medical card was received, rollover pupils from the previous school year, remote area grant pupils and pupils who may never pay or complete their applications.
|
School Year |
Mainstream Eligible |
Mainstream Ineligible (Concessionary) |
Period/Date of report |
|
2018/19 |
90146 |
40067 |
Period 13 2018 – 28/12/2018 |
|
2019/20 |
89219 |
39361 |
Period 13 2019 – 02/01/2020 |
|
2020/21 |
90323 |
39821 |
13/10/2020 |
202. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Education the measures being examined to improve pay and conditions for school secretaries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30855/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am keenly aware of the vital role contributed by school secretaries within school communities and I recognise the very important work done by these staff, and the other support staff in the running of our schools. I have met with Fórsa, who represent many of the secretaries working in schools.
In recognition of their role, I have put special arrangements in place for this school year whereby schools will be funded to employ a replacement secretary or caretaker in the event that staff who are at very high risk of contracting serious illness from COVID-19 cannot work on the school premises. I have also extended the Employee Assistance Service to all school staff including secretaries.
The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools receive assistance to provide for secretarial, caretaking and cleaning services under grant schemes. Where a school employs a staff member to support those functions those staff are employees of individual schools and responsibility for terms of employment rests with the school.
On foot of a Chairman’s Note to the Lansdowne Road Agreement, my Department implemented the 2015 recommendations of an independent arbitrator. The Arbitrator recommended a cumulative pay increase of 10% between 2016 and 2019 and that a minimum hourly pay rate of €13 be phased in over that period.
Fórsa trade union has tabled a follow-on claim from the 2015 agreement. Officials from my Department, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and School Management Bodies met with Fórsa on 1 October under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission.
I support the continued meaningful dialogue between the parties with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable solution. In that respect, I have asked my officials to examine closely pay issues for secretaries and caretakers, as well as very important wider matters relating to their conditions of work, in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I welcome Fórsa’s recent announcement to defer industrial action and their commitment to resuming engagement with all parties at the WRC.
203. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education if further consideration will be given to the issues raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30861/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am keenly aware of the vital role contributed by school secretaries within school communities and I recognise the very important work done by these staff, and the other support staff in the running of our schools. I have met with Fórsa, who represent many of the secretaries working in schools.
In recognition of their role, I have put special arrangements in place for this school year whereby schools will be funded to employ a replacement secretary or caretaker in the event that staff who are at very high risk of contracting serious illness from COVID-19 cannot work on the school premises. I have also extended the Employee Assistance Service to all school staff including secretaries.
The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools receive assistance to provide for secretarial, caretaking and cleaning services under grant schemes. Where a school employs a staff member to support those functions those staff are employees of individual schools and responsibility for terms of employment rests with the school.
On foot of a Chairman’s Note to the Lansdowne Road Agreement, my Department implemented the 2015 recommendations of an independent arbitrator. The Arbitrator recommended a cumulative pay increase of 10% between 2016 and 2019 and that a minimum hourly pay rate of €13 be phased in over that period.
Fórsa trade union has tabled a follow-on claim from the 2015 agreement. Officials from my Department, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and School Management Bodies met with Fórsa on 1 October under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission.
I support the continued meaningful dialogue between the parties with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable solution. In that respect, I have asked my officials to examine closely pay issues for secretaries and caretakers, as well as very important wider matters relating to their conditions of work, in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I welcome Fórsa’s recent announcement to defer industrial action and their commitment to resuming engagement with all parties at the WRC.
204. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education if children and young persons with underlying health conditions that make them vulnerable to Covid-19 are allowed to participate in school remotely and are exempt from physical attendance rules; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30866/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has published a suite of helpful guidance for the safe and sustainable operation of schools. Each school is required to have a COVID-19 Response Plan for the safe operation through the prevention, early detection and control of COVID-19 in line with public health advice. This guidance is focused on the practical steps schools must take to minimise the risk of transmission of infection.
The Roadmap for the Full Return to School provides guidance in relation to maintaining physical distancing in schools including public health advice which sets out that the principle of distancing can be usefully applied in the school setting, allowing for some flexibility when needed and notes that it must be applied in a practical way, recognising that the learning environment cannot be dominated by a potentially counterproductive focus on this issue.
Increasing separation and decreasing interaction is the basis of which physical distancing is achieved in schools in so far as is practicable and applies to all staff and pupils. However at primary level public health advice also recognises that achieving this outcome in the first four years of primary school, is not a prerequisite to reopening a primary schools for all pupils.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre and HSE has published guidance in relation to the return to school for at risk groups. The advice confirms that for the vast majority of children, can return to school and it is important for the overall health and wellbeing for children to attend school. This is consistent with public health advice internationally. The guidance is available at the following link.
www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/guidance/educationguidance/HSE%20advice%20on%20return%20to%20school.pdf.
My Department has also published guidance to support schools in making adapted education provision for those children who cannot return to school because they are medically certified as being at ‘very high risk’ to COVID-19.
In addition my Department has also developed and prepared a comprehensive response to supporting the wellbeing of school communities at this time. The National Educational Psychological Service is also working with schools to support them to meet the needs of their pupils particularly those who are anxious at this time.
