IPPN

Published: 19 May 2009

Source: Fianna Fail

The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Seán Haughey, TD. today announced a significant boost to the remit of the National Educational Welfare Board.

The new role will include home school liaison and school completion services as well as existing Visiting Teacher supports for Traveller pupils and will be supported by the integration of some 750 personnel employed by these services throughout the country, under the Board.

The Minister said that from the start of the next school year in September 2009, a single coordinated School Support Programme involving the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL), the School Completion Programme (SCP) and the Visiting Teachers Service for Travellers (VTST) will be integrated under the NEWB.

"In the current climate it is incumbent on us all to examine ways in which we can deliver our services more efficiently," said Minister Haughey.

"The existing staff of these services currently provide a range of essential services to those children who are most in need.

"I acknowledge the dedication, commitment and innovation of all of the staff of these schemes. This development will put in place structures to facilitate closer integration of the services at local, regional and National levels, increase effectiveness and help bring about real and meaningful improvements in services to confront in a cohesive way the underlying causes that impact negatively on the school life of children, particularly as they relate to school attendance, retention and attainment.

"In ensuring enhanced integration in the delivery of services this approach is part of the Government's overall approach to Transforming Public Services announced in November 2008 .

He went on to explain that full integration will need to be stepped involving the coordination of VTT, SCP and HSCL services in a combined way on the one hand and statutory NEWB functions on the other.

Minister Haughey added that he expected the new arrangements to take time to bed down but is confident that this united approach will significantly benefit service delivery to children and their families and assist schools in meeting the challenges they face in tackling poor attendance and early school leaving.

In 2005 the Department launched DEIS, the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion which envisaged closer integration of the Department"s services which work directly with schools, pupils and their families in areas where disadvantage is most concentrated.

"Many of these families have been disadvantaged for generations and these services are provided to support schools which find it difficult to meet the individual needs of all of their pupils from within their own resources.

"These supports seek to break the cycle of disadvantage by helping children to reengage with their schools and to derive maximum benefit from their education.

The NEWB, SCP and HSCL currently have separate national and regional management teams individually providing support and guidance to their local teams.

However, the Minister said that the rationale for the continued separation of these services is has become less obvious given the crossover of responsibility and the common client base being served.

"Combining these teams to deliver a composite service at national, regional and local levels is a positive development and one that will in time realise significant benefits," said Minister Haughey.