Ivor Callely
Question:77 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has satisfied himself with the level of capitation grants available to primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6856/01]
Written Answers. - Capitation Grants.
Primary schools' running costs have been traditionally met by my Department's scheme of capitation grants and the local contribution. These grants are intended to contribute towards the general operating costs of national schools which include heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance, painting, teaching aids and other miscellaneous charges. The capitation grant has been increased substantially since this Government assumed office in 1997. It has been increased from £45 per pupil in 1997 to £75.50 per pupil this school year. In addition, a rate of £80 per pupil will apply in the 2001-02 school year. This constitutes an increase of some 77% over that period.
Over the past three years, my Department has also provided grant assistance to schools to meet their running costs by means other than the traditional capitation grant. For instance, in relation to the provision of secretarial and caretaking assistance to schools, I increased the rates of grant by 33% from £30 per pupil to £40 per pupil with effect from January 2000. Furthermore, with effect from September 2000 I extended the scheme to all primary schools. In addition, I have set a minimum grant of £2,400 per annum which is payable to all schools with 60 pupils or less.
These improvements mean that for the first time all primary schools now qualify for an annual grant to assist them with the provision of secretarial and caretaking services. The Government's commitment in this regard can also be measured by the fact that the funding allocated for this purpose, which was approximately £5.6 million in 1999, increased in 2000 to approximately £12.2 million and will further increase this year to approximately £16.8 million.
In addition, almost 2,300 primary schools will receive supplementary grants for the next three years under the major new programme, "Giving Children An Even Break", recently launched by me to address educational disadvantage. The amount of supplementary grant aid payable to each school at the rate of £50 per disadvantaged pupil is based on the levels of concentration of disadvantaged pupils in the school. These were identified through a comprehensive survey conducted on my Department's behalf by the Educational Research Centre, Drumcondra, during 2000.
Last year I introduced an annual physical education grant for all primary schools. Under the terms of this grant all schools designated as disadvantaged plus schools in the rural phase of the Breaking the Cycle scheme will receive an annual grant of £1,000 per school while all other schools will receive £500 per school.
In addition to the ongoing annual commitments outlined above, my Department has also issued a number of other grants to schools over the past three years. These grants include a library grant in December 1998, a science grant and an infants grant in October 1999, a national reading initiative grant in December 1999, a visual arts grant in November 2000 and a curriculum (arts) grant in November 2000. The total value of these grants amounts to approximately £19.5 million.
I am sure that the Deputy will appreciate in light of the information supplied above that substantial improvements have been made to the level of grant aid that has been made available by this Government to primary schools to meet their day to day operating costs.