Date: 10 March 2022
It was announced last week that 12 Wicklow schools will benefit from the national expansion of the DEIS programme announced by the Minister for Education. These schools will now gain access to targeted supports to address educational disadvantage. This is the first national large-scale expansion of the DEIS programme since 2017. Discussing the announcement, Deputy Matthews said:
“The announcement by the Minister is welcome and will be of huge benefit for the 12 schools from across the county that have been selected. Benefits to the schools under the various bands in the DEIS programme include:
· Additional classroom teaching positions.
· Home-school-community liaison coordinator posts.
· DEIS grant funding.
“It is incredibly important that our school system is open and welcoming for all students, regardless of background, and that in particular, students at risk of educational disadvantage will be supported to achieve their full potential. This commitment was only highlighted further during the pandemic and it is imperative that no child is left behind in education.
“Information for all parents who are in the new batch of schools added to the DEIS system will be provided by the Department of Education and additional support will be available to principals, teachers and other school management to assist with the transition to the various new support mechanisms available to them.
“Following this transition period, from September 2022, these schools will have access all supports under the programme to match their respective DEIS band category. In the coming days, I will be writing to each school to offer any support I can, and I look forward to the opportunity to working with the school principals and management to work through any teething problems that may arise in getting the adequate funding and resources associated with the DEIS programme, concluded Deputy Matthews.
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