Effective use of school funds vital

SCHOOLS should be funded based on the number of children from disadvantaged homes on their roll books, an expert group has told the Government.

The Educational Disadvantage Committee said this would be the most effective way to target resources for educational inclusion at schools.

Education Minister Noel Dempsey says many of the programmes to tackle disadvantage at pre-school, primary and second level are doing the same work as each other. The Government spent €133 million on these initiatives last year, including €23m on a primary and second level School Completion Programme.

The committee was tasked with finding ways of better spending the money and they recently submitted a report to Mr Dempsey. It recommends a rank of disadvantage be set up for primary and post-primary, for the purposes of qualifying for teaching resources and funding.

“The idea is that, instead of being given a specific amount of money for each programme, schools would have more freedom to spend it in areas of support that work best,” said committee chairperson and UCC education professor Áine Hyland.

Apart from the School Completion Programme, other disadvantage projects are aimed at preventing children from leaving school early, providing links between school and homes to support parents, and encouraging high levels of attendance.

Recently-published census figures showed the number of 15-year-olds leaving school early almost doubled between 1996 and 2002.

“Statistics like this indicate questions have to be asked about the effectiveness of programmes aimed at ensuring young people do not drop out of school early,” said Prof Hyland.

The report suggested the rankings at primary school could be based, initially, on a 2000 survey by the Education Research Centre at St Patrick’s College in Drumcondra. It took account of literacy and numeracy levels in each school, as well as local unemployment and numbers of pupils whose families are dependent on social welfare benefits.

The committee recommended second level schools be ranked according to a 2002 database which took account of numbers in each school who did not have to pay State exam fees, numbers staying on to Junior Certificate and results in the exam.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation has previously criticised unequal access to support services.