Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 July 2023
437. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Education if she will request a review of the current home school community liaison allocation to a school (details supplied); if this issue can be urgently addressed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35898/23]
View answerCurrently, all DEIS Urban Primary and DEIS Post Primary schools are included in the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL), which serves 693 schools. The scheme is delivered by 530 full-time HSCL Coordinators who are teachers in these schools and assigned to HSCL duties either in individual schools or clusters of schools, catering for approximately 207,000 pupils. The HSCL scheme seeks to promote partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services, with a view to supporting improved attendance, participation and retention.
A HSCL Coordinator is released from teaching duties, for a maximum of five years, in order to work intensively with and support parents and guardians. The overarching goal of the HSCL Coordinator is to improve educational outcomes for children through their work with the key adults in the child’s life. HSCL is a school-based intervention provided to address the needs of students and their families in disadvantaged areas through acknowledging and developing the role of the parent as prime educator.
The HSCL scheme, together with the School Completion Programme and the statutory Educational Welfare Service, make up the three strands of Tusla Education Support Service (TESS). The three TESS strands work together collaboratively with schools, families and other relevant services to achieve the best educational outcomes for children and young people.
My Department works closely with TESS to ensure all schools are supported with the resources available.
My Department is continuing to undertake work towards achieving its vision for an inclusive education system which supports all learners to achieve their potential. It also recognises that we need to target resources to those schools who need them most. That is why my Department has undertaken a programme of work to explore the allocation of resources to schools to address educational disadvantage. To support this work my Department have invited the OECD Strength Through Diversity: Education for Inclusive Societies Project to review the current policy approach for the allocation of resources to support students at risk of educational disadvantage in Ireland. This review will provide an independent expert opinion on the current resource allocation model for the DEIS programme and, drawing on international examples, inform a policy approach for an equitable distribution of supplementary resources to support students at risk of educational disadvantage attending all schools, both DEIS and non-DEIS. The OECD are engaging with a range of relevant stakeholders to inform the review process as well as drawing on international examples. The OECD estimates that the review will be completed in Q2 2024.
The OECD review is being complimented by a programme of work by my Department which will look at reviewing individual resources and allocation approaches. This work will consider the allocation of resources, including Home School Community Liaison support, within the DEIS programme. This work will be involve consultation with a range of relevant stakeholders. It will also seek to ensure that schools are supported to ensure every child has an equal opportunity to achieve their potential.
It is not envisaged that the current HSCL coordinator allocation to schools will be altered in advance of the completion of that review.
