Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2022
538. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Education if she will issue a school (details supplied) with a thorough report outlining the reason for the refusal by her Department to award DEIS status to the school; the data-sets used in the decision-making process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37133/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraDelivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) is the main policy initiative of my Department to tackle educational disadvantage at school level.
The extension of the DEIS programme to additional schools follows intensive work by the DEIS technical group, which involved valuable input from stakeholders. The refined DEIS identification model builds on the objectivity and fairness of the 2017 version, but now captures a greater breadth of disadvantage and accounts for severity of disadvantage through the application of a weighted process. It also takes into consideration the significant educational disadvantage experienced by Traveller and Roma learners and of students residing in direct provision or emergency homeless accommodation. The DEIS programme focuses on targeting additional resources at those schools with the highest concentrations of students who are at risk of educational disadvantage. Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS programme and the model has been applied fairly and equally to all schools.
The model uses information from my Departments 2021/22 enrolment databases and 2016 national census data as represented by the Pobal HP Deprivation index which is a method of measuring the relative affluence or disadvantage of a particular geographical area. The details of the refined DEIS Identification Model are available on the gov.ie website.
Schools that were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the DEIS identification model to their school enrolment data were provided with the opportunity to have that outcome reviewed. Schools were also provided with the opportunity to update their details on my Department’s enrolment databases - POD/PPOD.
The school you refer to did appeal this decision but there was no change to the outcome of the initial application of the refined DEIS identification model.
Circular 0019/2022 outlined the details of this appeals process and is available on the gov.ie website.
The DEIS appeals process was applied fairly across all appellants and the results are final. My Department will continue to support schools to deliver high quality, inclusive teaching and learning to students and young learners.
It is important to note that the extension of the DEIS programme to new schools is just one phase of work in my Department’s vision for an inclusive education system which supports all learners to achieve their potential. While the DEIS programme supports those schools with the highest levels of concentrated educational disadvantage, my Department recognises that there are students at risk of educational disadvantage in all schools. Conscious of this, and recognising the need to target resources to those schools who need them most, the next phase of work will explore the allocation of resources to schools to tackle educational disadvantage. Part of this programme of work will involve consultation with all relevant stakeholders and will consider information provided by schools in correspondence following the application of the refined DEIS identification model.
In addition to this, following the National Census 2022 held on the 3rd April last it is envisaged that an updated HP Deprivation Index will be generated by Pobal and will be available in Q3 of 2023. My Department will engage with Pobal in relation to this process. The updated HP Deprivation Index when available can be considered by my Department to inform future resource allocation to tackle educational disadvantage.
