Extra investment of €40 million and an additional 300 new posts for schools in disadvantaged areas were announced today by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin.
Addressing the Irish National Teachers Organisation (Into) annual congress in Galway, Ms Hanafin said that more targeted supports will be provided across the education system under the new action plan for tackling educational disadvantage.
"Under the new plan, better procedures will be put in place for identifying the levels of disadvantage in our schools, to ensure that extra supports are targeted at those that need them most," Ms Hanafin told delegates.
She said that to make sure that it is effectively implemented, the new framework will "be introduced on a phased basis, starting in the next school year and will involve an additional annual investment of €40 million on full implementation. It will also involve the provision of some 300 additional posts across the education system generally."
The new posts will involve teaching jobs and a range of positions, including new home school liaison officers and experts in literacy and numeracy. The posts will be filled at both primary and second level.
"Some of these posts will be used to provide smaller class sizes in targeted disadvantaged schools. We will be narrowing the gap between the size of junior and senior classes in the most disadvantaged schools, by providing for classes of 24 at senior level," added Ms Hanafin.
The Minister said ensuring that more children from disadvantaged areas are taught in smaller classes is a priority for her as an important step in delivering on the Government's commitments in relation to class size in the primary school system as a whole.
The new programme will also give funding to schools to provide a mix of both academic and non-academic supports for children during and outside of school-time.
The Minister also announced measures to extend access to successful initiatives such as the Reading Recovery Programme, provide
home school community liaison teachers to more disadvantaged schools, and encourage greater co-operation between primary and post-primary schools.