Sorca Clarke
Question:275. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the spending per funding heading in national and primary schools, per county, for 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [25708/23]
View answerSchool Funding
Questions (275)
Written answers
As funding from my Department is not allocated or recorded on a county basis, I am therefore not in a position to readily provide details on the amounts paid to schools at a county level over the period, as requested by the Deputy.
As the Deputy will be aware, my Department is voted over €10bn in the annual REV for 2023. This represents a substantial investment in our education system and in our children and young people and is an increase of c.€700m on the REV for 2022. In the school year 2022/2023, over 558,000 students enrolled in primary schools and over 406,400 in Post Primary schools with funding allocated across the following high-level headings: Pay and Pension (c.80%), Capital Projects (c.10%), Financial Grants to Schools (c.6%), providing School Transport (c.3%) and other current expenditure (c.1%).
In the 2023 budget, funds were secured to provide free primary schools books to c.558,000 students. In addition, funding was secured to provide over 900 additional teachers, including 370 primary teachers to further decrease class sizes by reducing the school staffing schedules by 1 point for all primary schools, along with additional teachers supporting students with special educational needs. Further to this c.1,000 additional special need assistant posts were funded to bring the total in the education system to over 20,000. There is also continued investment and delivery across the school building programme to support the operation of the school system.
School Curriculum
Questions (276)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:276. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education if the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment uses a child development model; and if so, if she will name the specific model or models. [25777/23]
View answerWritten answers
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) advises the Minister for Education on curriculum and assessment for early childhood education, primary and post-primary schools. This advice is generated in a highly collaborative manner and draws on extensive research and educational literature, and experiences of schools and early childhood settings. Information on the curriculum development processes and NCCA’s structures can be found on its website at www.ncca.ie.
The NCCA takes an evidence-informed approach with its research activity including, but not limited to, research in relation to specific aspects or areas of curriculum development; audits of curriculum provision in other jurisdictions; comparative studies locating Ireland in an international context; and consultations with teachers/practitioners, children/students, school leaders, parents, researchers and academics, wider stakeholders in the education system; and the general public. The research used to inform curriculum and assessment advice, as well as systemwide developments, also comes from longitudinal studies.
There are many theoretical perspectives on children’s learning and development, including Bioecological Perspectives; Sociocultural Perspectives; Meta-Cognition and Self-Regulation Perspectives; Attachment Perspectives; Motivation Perspectives; Cognitive Psychology Perspectives; Neuroscience and Neurocognitive Perspectives and Multiple Intelligences (including Learning Styles) Perspectives, with some more widely accepted or less contested than others. As Ring, O’Sullivan, Ryan and Burke (2018) remind us, When we learn different types of things, we employ different types of learning strategies or brain approaches; learning looks different and works differently depending on what is being learned (p8). The NCCA draws on multiple theories of learning and development in its curriculum and assessment work across early childhood, primary and post-primary education with these being articulated through curriculum components such as principles, statements of learning, key skills/competencies, examples of teaching and learning, and examples of student work to support enactment of the curriculum. In addition, the Council’s work draws on the field of curriculum studies in which understandings of the meaning of curriculum, including the important role of the teacher, have changed and evolved over time.
In the case of the ongoing work to redevelop the primary curriculum, research papers on many different aspects of curriculum and assessment, including theoretical perspectives on children’s learning and development, have been developed and are informing the current work on curriculum specifications. This research can be found at ncca.ie/en/primary/primary-developments/primary-curriculum-review-and-redevelopment/research-and-publications/
Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework is currently being updated. Again, much research underpinned the development of this framework between 2006 and 2009 (see ncca.ie/en/early-childhood/early-childhood-education-developments/the-development-of-aistear/), and extensive research is informing the proposals to update it (see ncca.ie/en/early-childhood/early-childhood-education-developments/updating-aistear/research-and-publications/).
In the case of post-primary curriculum and assessment changes in recent years, including the Framework for Junior Cycle, and new Leaving Certificate subjects such as Politics and Society, Computer Science and Physical Education, extensive research, consultation data and deliberation and discussion shaped the developments. For example, the longitudinal study carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) on behalf of the NCCA in the 2000s, provided significant insights into teaching, learning and assessment in the first three years of post-primary education and highlighted a number of challenges subsequently addressed in the Framework for Junior Cycle.
In the case of the new Leaving Certificate subjects, each was shaped by a body of research captured in a Background Paper and Brief published for public consultation. Curriculum audits, research reports/papers, background papers and briefs, and consultation reports informing curriculum and assessment developments can be found on NCCA’s website - Publications and Research | NCCA.
The NCCA’s work on curriculum and assessment places a strong focus on the principle of ‘inclusion and diversity’ which can be seen in changes in primary and post-primary education in the last decade. Guided by a mosaic of educational theories, this importance placed on inclusive curricula and assessment arrangements can be seen in the use of broad learning outcomes in curriculum specifications (supported by progression continua at primary level), the introduction of Classroom-Based Assessments which enable students to demonstrate their learning in a multitude of ways, and the policy decision to move to common level specifications in subjects other than English, Mathematics and Irish. NCCA’s development of Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes for junior cycle students has played a key role in ensuring appropriate curriculum and assessment provision for all young people at this stage of their education. The Council is now building on this work as it develops age-, stage- and developmentally-appropriate modules for young people currently studying the Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes and as they move into senior cycle. The first phase of these modules will be available for September 2024.
Work underway on the redevelopment of senior cycle builds on all of this in support of the Minister’s vision for ‘Equity and Excellence for All’. One of the actions set out in the Senior Cycle Review: Advisory Report (NCCA, 2022) and highlighted by Minister Foley in her March 29, 2022 announcement on senior cycle reform was the consideration of the range and form of appropriate materials to be developed and provided by NCCA to support schools’ work with curriculum components and to facilitate more flexible learning pathways through senior cycle. This work includes consideration of the design of curriculum documents and an extensive research paper on this will be published in due course informing work on the development of senior cycle subjects and modules.
State Examinations
Questions (277)
Cathal Crowe
Question:277. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Education if she will intervene to ensure that a leaving certificate candidate (details supplied) gets access to the appropriate examination requirements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25784/23]
View answerWritten answers
The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the state examinations.
In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.
Special Educational Needs
Questions (278)
Louise O'Reilly
Question:278. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Education the supports that are in place for a family with a child with a condition (details supplied) who is currently in a mainstream school and then attends a private after-school or creche but whose family has recently been informed that the child will need to be attended by an SNA in order to continue in the after-school or creche; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25849/23]
View answerWritten answers
I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion, for my Department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.
For 2023, the spend by my Department on special education will be substantially increased by over 10% on last year, meaning that for 2023 my Department will spend over €2.6 billion on special education.
This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the Department’s total allocation for 2023.
This includes funding to support children with special educational needs in mainstream classes; funding for new special classes and new special school places; additional special educational teachers, special needs assistants (SNAs) and funding for the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS).
In 2023, the number of teaching and SNA posts in our schools will increase with an additional 686 teachers and a further 1,194 SNAs in our schools next year.
For the first time ever we will have over 19,000 teachers working in the area of special education and over 20,000 SNAs. Together we have almost 40,000 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs.
My Department provides these resources to state-recognised schools to ensure that children with special educational needs have access to an appropriate education. These resources are not allocated to bodies other than recognised schools. The Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has responsibility for Early Learning and Care, and School Age Childcare.
SNAs play a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs into mainstream education, special classes and special schools ensuring that these students can access an education that enables them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.
The purpose of the SNA scheme is clarified in Circular 0030/2014 and explains that SNA support is provided specifically to assist recognised primary, post-primary and special schools to cater for the care needs of pupils with disabilities in an educational context.
My Department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.
School Admissions
Questions (279)
Louise O'Reilly
Question:279. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Education if she will outline the options available to the family of child (details supplied) regarding securing a school place for September; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25851/23]
View answerWritten answers
As the Deputy will be aware, for school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project Ireland 2040 population and housing targets inform my Department's projections of school place requirements.
While my Department is aware of increasing pressures and demand for additional school places in Malahide it is important to note that where enrolment pressures arise, it may not be as a result of lack of accommodation but may be driven by the following factors:
• Duplication of applications – pupils have applied for a place to a number of schools in the area• School of choice – pupils can’t get a place in their preferred school while there are places in other schools in the town/area• Some towns/areas have single sex schools and while places are available in the school they are not available to all pupils• External draw – pupils coming from outside the local area
My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.
Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.
My Department is working to establish the true extent of any capacity issues across school planning areas through ongoing discussions with the relevant school patrons and authorities.
This close engagement will allow my Department to identify particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming years which may necessitate further action to that already in train including, where required, the provision of modular accommodation solutions.
The Educational Welfare Services (EWS) of the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) is the statutory agency that can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The local service is delivered through the national network of Educational Welfare Officers (EWO). Contact details are available at www.tusla.ie/get-in-touch/education-and-welfare/
Special Educational Needs
Questions (280)
James O'Connor
Question:280. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Education her plans to provide additional early intervention classes in pre-schools (details supplied) due to increased demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25881/23]
View answerWritten answers
I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this government.
It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion, for my Department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
For 2023, the spend by my Department on special education will be substantially increased by over 10% on last year, meaning that for 2023 my Department will spend over €2.6 billion providing supports to children and young people with special educational needs and their schools.
This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the department’s total allocation for 2023.
This includes funding to support children with special educational needs in mainstream classes; funding for new special classes and new special school places; additional special educational teachers and special needs assistants.
The NCSE has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with SEN nationwide. Responsibility for provision in the early years sector lies with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY).
The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme provides up to two years of pre-school within the eligible age range, without charge. The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), introduced in 2016, enables the full inclusion and meaningful participation of children with disabilities/additional needs in the ECCE Programme. The goal of AIM is to create a more inclusive environment in pre-schools, so all children, regardless of ability, can benefit from quality early learning and care. A diagnosis of autism (or other disabilities/additional needs) is not required to access AIM supports. However, pre-school children with a diagnosis are generally supported in mainstream pre-schools with additional supports provided through AIM where required.
NCSE sanctions the establishment of special classes, including early intervention classes where there is an identified need. There are currently 151 early intervention classes nationwide. The NCSE have sanctioned a further 10 new early intervention classes for September 2023. This will bring the total number of early intervention classes to 161.
On occasion, early intervention classes are re-designated as school-age special classes to reflect the changing age-profile of students, the changing needs in an area and in order to ensure a continuation of support for students in the early intervention class who require a special class placement.
The NCSE's local special educational needs organisers (SENOs) remain available to assist and advise parents of children with special educational needs. The contact details for SENOs and information on the list of schools with special classes, the types and locations of these classes can be found on the NCSE's website at: www.ncse.ie
As your query refers to an individual placement case, I will arrange to have it referred to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply.
My Department is committed, in conjunction with the NCSE, to continue to work with parents, schools, patrons and all stakeholders to ensure that there are sufficient appropriate places for students with additional needs and to support all students to achieve their potential.
Question No. 281 answered with Question No. 263.
Gender Recognition
Questions (282)
Michael Healy-Rae
Question:282. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education her views on a matter (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25894/23]
View answerWritten answers
Referrals to the clinic referred to by the Deputy are not a matter for my Department and as such I am not in a position to comment.
Childcare Services
Questions (283)
Carol Nolan
Question:283. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education if her Department assists with, or makes a financial contribution to, the sourcing or provision of childcare or crèche facilities for the children of staff members of any grade or position; if so, the names of the providers; the costs incurred for the period 2020 to date in 2023; the number of staff who have availed of such assistance over this timeframe; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25969/23]
View answerWritten answers
I can confirm that my Department does not assist with, or make a financial contribution to, the sourcing or provision of childcare or crèche facilities for the children of any staff members of my Department.
Schools Building Projects
Questions (284)
Paul Donnelly
Question:284. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Education if she will provide an update on the new primary school for Hollywoodrath, Dublin 15; if planning permission has been granted; if there is a timeline for completion; and what patronage will be. [26049/23]
View answerWritten answers
The Deputy will be aware that Dublin 15 is an area of significant population growth and as part of forward planning the Department of Education has been assessing school accommodation in the area.
In this regard, the Department is planning a school building for the area that will be designed to be adaptable to cater for primary or post-primary school requirements as the needs arise.
Planning permission was recently granted for a 24 classroom primary school which will be used in the first instance as decant accommodation for 2 primary schools in the area while they are being remediated/retrofitted. It is planned to commence the delivery of this school in the coming months.
Following completion of the construction works at the 2 schools, the building will be available to accommodate either a Primary or Post Primary School as demographics in the area dictate.
In advance of the school opening, an open patronage process involving parents in the area will be held to decide on the patronage of the new school.
Special Educational Needs
Questions (285)
James Lawless
Question:285. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Education if she will examine the case of a pupil (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26052/23]
View answerWritten answers
The Assistive Technology Scheme, details of which can be accessed at: Assistive Technology Grant , is provided by my Department to supplement the overall approach to provide funding to schools for digital technology and equipment to support children for education purposes. All equipment provided under this scheme supports children with more complex disabilities who require essential specialist equipment in order to access the school curriculum.
It is vital that all learners have the opportunity to reach their potential, with digital technologies providing the means to overcome traditional barriers to learning, and to support inclusion across education.
Additional €2 million funding was secured in Budget 2023 for this scheme. This represents an increase of almost 60% on funding allocated previously to this essential support. This increased allocation supports my Department’s commitment to ensure that a full range of resources, not just teachers and SNAs, are available to support children who most need it.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports. SENOs also make recommendations to my Department where assistive technology/specialised equipment is required. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in making recommendations for support.
In order to qualify for equipment under the Assistive Technology Scheme, a student must have been diagnosed with a physical or communicative disability and must also have a recommendation in a professional assessment that the equipment is essential in order to allow the student to access the curriculum. It must also be clear that the existing I.T. equipment in the school is insufficient to meet the child's needs.
Schools make applications directly to the SENO, providing details of the student’s special educational needs or disability, including details of the approach taken by the school in making relevant interventions.
SENOs will review the application, and professional reports provided in support of same, in order to establish whether the criteria of the scheme have been met. They will then make a recommendation to my Department as to whether or not assistive technology is required; and based on this recommendation, my Department will decide on the level of grant, if any, to be provided.
Although equipment is sanctioned under the Assistive Technology scheme for use by particular students, it is the property of the school, and the school’s management authority is responsible for maintenance, repair, and insurance of the equipment. Where the school has no further requirement for the equipment or where a pupil transfers to a different school, the SENO will review on a case by case basis and may allocate it to another school in the interests of meeting needs to the greatest extent possible. This is done at a local level before a decision if equipment should be transferred to a different school.
On enrolment in a different school, it is open to that school to apply for assistive technology for the pupil where it is clear that the existing I.T. equipment in the school is insufficient to meet the child's needs.
All schools have the contact details of their local SENO, and parents are encouraged to discuss their children's needs with the SENO whose contact details can be accessed at: ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list .
Officials from my Department will reach out to the school and local SENO with the view to reaching a positive outcome to this case.
Schools Building Projects
Questions (286)
Pat Buckley
Question:286. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Education if a school (details supplied) will be open for students at the beginning of the 2023-24 academic year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26074/23]
View answerWritten answers
The Letter of Acceptance (LOA) for the school referred to by the Deputy issued to the preferred tenderer on the 31st May 2022 commencing the school building contract.
Works are progressing well on site and the school building is due for completion in Q4 2023.
My Department has been liaising with the patron body of the school referred to by the Deputy in relation to interim accommodation requirements and will remain in its current interim accommodation for the commencement of the 23/24 school year pending completion of the permanent accommodation for the school in Q4 2023.
Schools Building Projects
Questions (287)
James Lawless
Question:287. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Education if she will provide a timeline on the delivery of a new school building (details supplied) in County Meath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26133/23]
View answerWritten answers
The school referred to by the Deputy is being delivered by my Department’s Design and Build programme which uses a professional external Project Management team to progress the project through the stages of architectural planning, tendering and construction.
The project proceeded to tender on 18th April 2023 as part of a bundle of projects which issued to a Framework of Design & Build Contractors.
The tender process currently takes approximately 8-10 months. Once a Contractor has been appointed, it is anticipated that construction would commence shortly thereafter.