Issue 45: May 2005 - Youth Work Ireland

Policy & FundingTAOISEACH LAUNCHES NEWCOMMUNITY AND VOLUNTARYACTIVITY TASKFORCEAt The Wheel’s annual conference in AprilTaoiseach Bertie Ahern announced a new taskforceto promote Community and Voluntary activity.Paying tribute to The Wheel on the scope and depthof its development, the Taoiseach highlighted thesignificant contribution the Community andVoluntary Sector makes to the economy and societyas a whole.The Taoiseach said he envisaged the task force havinga dual role: producing specific recommendationsand stimulating debate and discussion on this “challengewhich concerns us all”. It is expected the taskforcewill be in existence for six months with itscomposition and terms of reference to be announcedin the near future.EDUCATIONALLY DISADVANTAGED TOBENEFIT FROM NEW PACKAGE OFSUPPORTSThe Minister for Education and Science, MaryHanafin T.D., has announced that more targeted supportswill be provided across the education systemunder the new action plan for tackling educationaldisadvantage.The new framework is the result of a full review ofthe measures that have been put in place to supportpupils from disadvantaged areas over the last twodecades and will build on the success of existingprogrammes, while addressing the issues that havediluted the overall effectiveness of some measures.Outlining some aspects of the new approach, theMinister explained that“under the new plan, better procedures will be putin place for identifying the levels of disadvantagein our schools, to ensure that extra supports aretargeted at those that need them most.”A single integrated programme of supports forschools with concentrated levels of disadvantagewill be put in place, which will bring together, andbuild upon, the existing variety of schemes and initiatives.The new framework will be introduced ona phased basis starting in the next school year andwill involve an additional annual investment of€40m on full implementation. It will also involvethe provision of some 300 additional posts acrossthe education system generally. Some of these postswill be used to provide smaller class sizes in targeteddisadvantaged schools.Other measures will include:Improving literacy and numeracy byexpanding access to successful initiativessuch as the Reading Recovery ProgrammeProviding home school community liaisonteachers to more disadvantaged schoolsEncouraging greater cooperation betweenprimary and post-primary schools in disadvantagedareas.Funding to schools to provide a mix of bothacademic and non-academic supports forchildren during and outside of school-timeProviding extra supports for principals indisadvantaged schools to enable them toimprove planning at local level and ensurethat the extra resources being provided leadto better outcomes for pupilsEncouraging better retention of teachers indisadvantaged schools, not only by providingsmaller class sizes, but also throughaccess to enhanced professional development.There will also be a new scheme ofpaid sabbatical leaveFor further information contact:Department of Education & ScienceMarlborough StreetDublin 1Tel: 01 8896400Email: info@education.gov.ieIrish Youth Work Scene 21 Issue 45, May, 2005