Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2020
332. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Education the plans that have been put in place by her Department to ensure access to online education for all students if the State returns again to a lockdown situation if Covid-19 infection rates continue to rise; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31112/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt remains the Government’s and my Department’s key objective for schools to remain open and to continue to operate as normally as possible. However, I recognise that despite the best efforts of all stakeholders, there will be situations where individual pupils or groups of pupils, teachers, or possibly entire school communities, are requested by Public Health HSE to self-isolate or restrict their movements because of a case or cases of Covid-19.
There is an absolute necessity for schools to be prepared for these situations, for them to continue to support their pupils and to provide for continuity of learning. This is particularly important in the context of pupils with special educational needs, pupils at risk of educational disadvantage and pupils at risk of early school leaving.
Schools are aware of the need to be agile in providing for continuity of schooling in the future. Contingency planning is required to support continuity of pupils/students’ learning and the use of digital technology where possible will be used to facilitate this. It is important that planning and the adoption of approaches are based on a whole-school approach. Given the fluidity of requirements to meet the various potential scenarios that living with Covid-19 entails, it is important that schools review and adapt their plans over the coming weeks and months as the situation evolves and as the experience of schools in providing for continuity of learning increases.
Extensive guidance and supports have been and continue to be made available by my Department and its support services to support schools to plan for the transition to online and remote learning and this guidance is all available at
https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/a128d-back-to-school/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/backtoschool/
The guidance includes links to a range of materials and supports developed by the Digital Technologies team of the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) such as learning platforms and online tools which can be used to support remote learning. Those resources continue to be available to schools.
In addition, my Department has issued ICT grant funding to schools to address ICT needs including digital devices, communication/learning platforms, software and other ICT solutions to support the provision of remote learning. Additional grant aid will issue during the current school year.
My Department’s Inspectorate is supporting school communities to provide effectively for the learning and progression of all learners during the first term of the 2020/21 school year.
The situation we find ourselves in is evolving all the time. My Department, in working with the whole of Government, will keep the situation under review and update any advices to schools as required. It is with the work of all our stakeholders together that we will continue to provide the best education for all our pupils/students.
