Principals delighted DEIS + will be introduced to areas

West Tallaght principals are “delighted” with Minister for Education Helen McEntee renewing her commitment to introduce DEIS+ classification for schools in particularly disadvantaged areas.

Although there hasn’t been a formal government announcement yet, Minister McEntee has said on national media this week that she is “determined to close the gap” between DEIS and non-DEIS students, and how she plans to achieve this with a DEIS+ scheme.

She also committed to develop a new, general DEIS action plan and to tackle the increasing level of absenteeism in Irish schools.

Nationwide, over 1000 schools benefit from the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme.

The need of an additional DEIS “band” for particularly disadvantaged areas was raised over the last years by Tallaght, Darndale and Ballymun school principals in the Dáil.

Their request was supported by research, as a survey of 17 of the schools represented found that nearly half (48pc) of students had experienced homelessness, abuse, bereavement, suicide, crime, violence or addiction, and 54pc have special education needs compared to 14pc in non-DEIS schools.

The enhanced supports they call for aim at nurturing the more complex, social and emotional needs of students coming from extreme disadvantage and poverty, through a “multidisciplinary” approach.

This includes counsellors, speech and language and occupational therapists, more teaching posts, and space dedicated to trauma informed practices and interventions.

“The announcement of DEIS+ recognises the intergenerational deprivation that exists in small pockets of our country,” said Principal of Tallaght CNS in Jobstown, Conor McCarthy following the Minister’s announcement.

“If the supports they are planning to deliver include what the principals have been asking, then it’ll do a lot of good in our areas, and it will improve literacy and numeracy in our schools.”

Principal McCarthy led the eight-year long campaign alongside Orla Hanahoe from Cnoc Mhuire SNS (Killanarden), Shane Loftus from Our Lady Immaculate SNS (Darndale) and Philip Fitzgerald from St. Joseph’s SNS (Ballymun).

“All schools in our group are already implementing versions of these supports through local partnerships, charity, grants and fundraising but it is not sustainable without formal, sustained support from the Department of Education,” the principals said in January.