Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 June 2022
267. Deputy Richard O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Education the reason that schools have been refused supports, in view of the fact that many schools have a large enrolment of Ukrainian pupils who need extra supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28555/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is working to support education provision for arriving children with immediate education needs.
Utilisation of each school’s existing capacity in the most flexible way possible is key to supporting Ukrainian children who are being enrolled in our schools. There is generally good capacity across the country albeit there may be capacity pressures to be managed in some areas.
My Department’s assessment of applications for additional accommodation will require it to be satisfied that capacity across all other schools in a town or area is fully utilised. This will require good cooperation and collaboration between schools, supported as necessary through the local REALT team. Capacity information on the school system has been made available by my Department’s Planning and Building Unit to support and assist the work of the REALT teams.
Schools should contact their local REALT team if they have insufficient capacity to facilitate Ukrainian children seeking enrolment. The relevant contact details are available at https://www.etbi.ie/regional-education-and-language-teams-for-ukraine/
In addition to the supports via REALT there are several other supports available to schools, including
- Funding for additional teachers or teaching hours, for furniture and for equipment;
- Continued communication and Guidance Documents for schools to keep them updated;
- Language Supports;
- National Educational Psychological Services (NEPS); and
- Tusla Education Support Service (TESS).
The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September.
For the 2022/23 school year, the staffing schedule for primary schools has been improved by one point and schools will be provided with class teachers on the basis of 1 teacher for every 24 pupils which is a historical low ratio. The staffing arrangements also include a provision whereby schools experiencing rapid increases in enrolment can apply for additional permanent mainstream posts, using projected enrolment. The staffing process also contains an appeals mechanism for schools to submit a staffing appeal under certain criteria to an independent Primary Staffing Appeals Board. The Appeals Board operates independently of my Department and its decision is final.
Supports are made available for children where English is an additional language. These supports are available generally in schools who have large numbers of children for whom English/Irish is not their first language but it has been of particular importance recently to support the large numbers of children enrolled in our schools coming from Ukraine.
My Department is providing additional language teaching resources to support schools who have received pupils from Ukraine. This additional resource is provided to schools based on the number of Ukrainian children enrolled in the school. The application form is available on the Department website.
Figures show that 724 primary and 194 post-primary schools have applied for and are now receiving EAL teaching resources.
In my Department, the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) lead on the provision of support and guidance to schools on how best to meet the wellbeing social and emotional needs of children and young people.
In addition, the teacher education support services provide supports for schools and prioritise requests from schools who are enrolling children coming from Ukraine. A central repository of information and an array of CPD resources for school leaders and teachers to support cultural and linguistic diversity is available on the Scoilnet.ie website. These supports to include those designed by NEPS to help children suffering from trauma and EAL, intercultural and relevant curriculum supports developed by the teacher education supports services including PDST, the NCCA and the ETB sector.
Teacher education support services endeavour to reach all schools who request in-school support visits, however where advisor capacity is limited, there may be occasions they cannot visit all schools. Supports in this instance are provided both by phone, email and advisors point schools to the array of supports available in the system.
When a child coming from Ukraine has enrolled in a school with complex special educational needs the school should make contact with their local Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) who will assist schools in supporting Ukrainian children with special educational needs.
Where schools consider that children from Ukraine may require a special school or special class placement schools must make contact with the local SENO. The SENO will work with the child’s family and other agencies in ensuring that such specialist placements are appropriate to the needs of the child. Once this has been established the SENO will support the families in securing such placements in their local area.
The NCSE have received enquiries in this regard and are currently engaging with the relevant parties.
