I reiterate that the development of the model for calculated grades has been a challenging process and would not have been possible without the co-operation of teachers and schools. I absolutely acknowledge that. For students who are disappointed with their results, the opportunity to avail of the appeals mechanism to ensure there were no administrative errors in processing their results was, as I have already outlined, provided to them. I appreciate that in every examination system and in every leaving certificate…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to provide an update to the House on the status of the provision of accommodation for Greystones community college. On 17 December 2019 it was announced that the patronage of the new post-primary school for Greystones-Kilcoole was awarded to Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board, KWETB. It had been the intention to open the community college in the newly constructed community national school building in September 2020 but this has …

As the Deputy will be aware, construction of Greystones community national school commenced on site in September 2018, prior to the emergence of issues in October 2018 in 42 schools constructed by the contractor involved, which has been the focus of the Department's schools remediation programme. For the duration of the work, the Department's project management technical advisory team included an architect, civil and structural engineer, fire consultant and others. These parties carried out regular site visits and …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter today. Before I address the specific issue raised, I would like to provide the House with an outline of the extent of the school transport service. School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann, as the Deputy has noted, on behalf of the Department. In the 2019-20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools t…

That is absolutely not correct. In the first instance, as I previously outlined, all those who were eligible and had paid on time were given their tickets. Where there was extra capacity, concessionary tickets were made available. We are now doing a review of bus routes to meet the new guidelines issued by NPHET just one week in advance of the return to school so as to reach the 50% capacity. Where there is additional capacity after that, the concessionary tickets will be made available to those who have paid on ti…

I most certainly will look at the cases the Deputy raised.

I last spoke in this House immediately before it went in to recess. At that time I had just published the Roadmap for the Full Return to School. That was only five weeks ago and much has happened since then. An incredible amount of work has been undertaken in the school sector. As a country dealing with the challenges of Covid-19, we are in a different place now than then, but just as the publication of the roadmap represented an important milestone on the road back towards the "old normal", I concede that there ar…

I apologise. I thought I had 20 minutes.

The purpose of the calculated grades system is to arrive at the grade each student would have achieved if the leaving certificate examinations had taken place as normal. Students' expected performance in a subject and level is combined with information about how students in a school have fared in the subject in recent years in line with national performance standards over time and with their performance in the junior certificate. Using a range of different but complementary sources of data will provide the most acc…

I thank the Deputy. I must reiterate that all possible checks and balances have been put in place to ensure that the calculated grades model is a fair and equitable system. The 2020 leaving certificate will have the same high quality and integrity as the 2019 leaving certificate and indeed that of 2021 and other future years. While these data sets include certain demographic information, it is not being used as part of the process of generating the calculated grades through the standardisation process. However, to …

To clarify, the demographic information is not being used to generate the calculated grades through the standardisation process. My Department has published a short guide to data collection, national standardisation and quality assurance which provides further details about the workings of the calculated grades model. This is available and has been published online.

As the Deputy is aware, yesterday I announced the roadmap for the full return to school, along with more than €370 million in funding to support primary and post-primary schools as they prepare for reopening. It is recognised that in preparing for full reopening schools may require some reconfiguration works to ensure that all available space, including class space, is used to maximise physical distancing safely. Adaption works may include, but are not limited to, reconfiguration of classroom space, repurposing roo…

Again, I confirm that substantial resources are going into schools to facilitate schools doing what needs to be done on the ground. I include in that, as we have already outlined, the €75 million that has been made available through the minor works grant. That funding is significant and substantial. In the first instance, it is a doubling of the minor works grant funding to primary schools and it is a similar but new strand of funding for second-level schools. There is great potential for schools to reconfigure and…

On that point, prior to 2016, teachers were allocated to primary schools at a general average of one teacher for every 28 pupils, but budget 2016 improved that ratio by one point to 27:1. Budget 2018 provided for a further point improvement to the staffing schedule so that teachers are allocated on a general average of one teacher for every 26 pupils, with effect since September 2018. This is the lowest pupil-teacher ratio ever at primary school. I am very conscious of the staffing schedule and the need to prioriti…

As the Deputy is aware, on Monday the Government published Roadmap for the Full Return to School, along with details of a financial package of over €375 million to support the implementation of the measures in the roadmap, following approval by the Government. The range of supports being made available to schools includes additional financial supports to provide for additional staffing, management supports, enhanced cleaning, hand hygiene and personal protective equipment, PPE, costs under the Covid-19 response pla…

I thank the Deputy for raising that important point. I appreciate the pressures on schools and parents. Every effort is being made to ensure substantial funding is put in place to ensure no additional burden is placed on the school or on parents. There is a budget of €53 million for cleaning and all that involves, which is a substantial package of funding. We have also put in place further aid to ensure schools will be in a position to employ extra personnel in the month of August to help them to do the work that n…

I would not accept that assertion at all. The roadmap is inclusive of all schools whether urban or rural. I come from a constituency that marries both so I am greatly conscious that the packages are made available on an urban and rural basis. A key innovation, perhaps more to the benefit of rural schools is the additional one day which will be given to teaching principals which is something of which they are richly deserving, and takes cognisance of the burden placed on them by the administrative work they need to …

School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. In the 2019-2020 school year more than 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million km at a cost of over €219 million in 2019. Earlier this week I announced a comprehensive plan detailing a package of measures and resource…

To reiterate, in line with normal practice, all children who are eligible for school transport and who complete the application and payment process on time will be accommodated in school transport services where such services are in operation. The plans that are in place for school transport are absolutely based on the public health advice available. It has recommended that children are regarded as a single cohort, will be given designated seats on the bus to and from school, they will sit with a sibling or class m…

To a very clear question, I give a very clear answer, that which I have already given the Deputy. All children who are eligible for school transport and who complete the application and payment process on time will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation. Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who complete the application and payment process on time, will be considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated. Such seats,…