Darren O'Rourke
Ceist:515. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education her plans to introduce a DEIS+ scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3568/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 5 February 2025
Ceisteanna (515)
Freagraí scríofa
The Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Programme is a key policy initiative of the Department of Education to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level.
Supplementing universal supports, the DEIS programme provides a targeted and equitable way to address concentrated educational disadvantage that promotes equity and has benefits for students. My department now spends over €180 million annually providing additional supports to just under 1,200 schools in the DEIS programme.
Within the DEIS programme, 306 primary schools with the highest levels of educational disadvantage are now included in DEIS Urban Band 1 which means they receive the highest level of support available. DEIS Urban Band 1 schools receive access to an enhanced staffing allocation and lower thresholds for the allocation of leadership posts. This means children in DEIS Urban Band 1 schools have more contact time with their teachers. DEIS Urban Band 1 schools also have access to the support of Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) coordinators, access to the school completion programme (SCP) and receive additional funding by way of a DEIS grant. The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides priority access to their services for schools in this DEIS band. School leaders and teachers in these schools also receive priority access to professional learning through Oide, to support them to meet the needs of their pupils.
The DEIS Plan is based on the premise that in order to have the maximum possible impact on providing opportunities for students most at risk of educational disadvantage, then extra resources need to be targeted as closely as possible at those students with the greatest level of need. This will involve further development of the DEIS programme to create a more dynamic resource allocation model where levels of resources more accurately follow the levels of need identified by objective data.
To support this work, my department invited the OECD 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 found that while Ireland has a comparatively equitable education system, and the DEIS programme is a key instrument in that, gaps remain in relation to the outcomes for children from areas of high deprivation.
My department has held a programme of consultation with principals and teachers and with children and young people. This included a number of principals from these most acutely disadvantaged schools and provided rich data for the team to inform this work. My department also recently held a workshop with over 100 stakeholders, to consider the findings from the OECD review and the consultations.
Informed by the findings and recommendations of the review, my department recently introduced two measures to support children and young people in schools with very high levels of disadvantage. Strand 1 of the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot was extended to 61 urban DEIS primary schools in Tallaght, Clondalkin, Finglas, Ballymun and Darndale. Secondly, an allocation of €1.25 million in funding was provided to establish 12 Community Link Worker roles to support Traveller and Roma children and young people and those most at risk of educational disadvantage.
Over the coming months my department will work with other government departments and agencies, the education partners, and stakeholders across the education sector to develop tangible actions informed by the recommendations set out. These actions will aim to build on the success of the DEIS programme through the development of a dynamic resource allocation model that can respond to changing levels of need and ensure that all children and young people, and particularly those experiencing high levels of disadvantage, are supported to achieve their potential in education.