Schools get €40m educational inclusion boost
Over 800 schools are to receive €40m in extra supports to help ensure young people from disadvantaged backgrounds complete their education, it was confirmed today.
Under a new School Support Programme, 640 primary schools in rural and urban areas and 200 second-level schools will be eligible for additional supports.
Education Minister Mary Hanafin said an extra €40m a year and 300 extra staff would be employed in the education sector upon the full implementation of the plan for educational inclusion.
Ms Hanafin said: “840 schools have been identified for inclusion in the new School Support Programme and, in the coming days, these schools will receive letters inviting them to participate in this programme.
“Existing schemes and programmes will be integrated into the School Support Programme on a phased basis over the five-year implementation period.”
The minister said the additional supports were extended to extra schools after the Educational Research Centre surveyed primary schools and collected information on disadvantage from existing databases on second-level pupils.
Ms Hanafin said this year over €640m is being spent on tackling educational disadvantage at all levels of education.
Under the programme, there will be a stronger focus on early childhood education and smaller classes for more children in disadvantaged areas.
Ms Hanafin said the key principle of early intervention underpins both the early childhood education measure and many of the literacy and numeracy measures being adopted under the new action plan.
The programme will include more guidance counsellors in second-level schools, enhanced library facilities in chosen schools and greater access to alternatives such as the Leaving Cert Applied and the Junior Cert Schools Programme.
“Schools accepting the invitation to join the new School Support Programme will receive additional financial and human resource supports,” she said.
