Revised Criteria and Procedures for the Establishment of New Primary Schools - Report of the Commission on School Accommodation

Part One explores the background factors relating to new school establishment, outlines the views received as a result of consultation with the public and the New Schools Advisory Committee (NSAC) and reviews international practice in relation to establishment of new schools. The population of the country experienced an unprecedented increase in the past ten years. Despite the current economic downturn, the effect of this recent population increase is that growth in demand for school places is set to increase over the short to medium term. The overriding objective is to ensure that a school place is available to every child. Part Two explores issues around planning for new schools in the future. It discusses patron selection, the mechanism for identifying the need for a new school and proposals for cost effectiveness, including campus arrangements. A school is of central importance to a local community and therefore the establishment of a new school must be carried out with reference to the overall plan of the local authority for any given area. Guidelines published under Section 28 of the Planning Act entitled “The Provision of Schools and the Planning System” (July 2008) establish a 7 framework for co-operation between the Department and planning authorities to ensure the timely and cost-effective provision of school facilities.

Report of the Steering Committee on the Establishment of the Teaching Council

Report of the Steering Committee on the Establishment of the Teaching Council. Provided by the Department of Education and Skills, Ireland.

Review of Apprenticeship Training in Ireland

On 19 May 2013, Ruairi Quinn T.D, Minister for Education and Skills, announced a review of apprenticeship training in Ireland. The terms of reference of the review were “to determine whether the current model of apprenticeship should be retained, adapted or replaced by an alternative model of vocational education and training for apprentices –taking into account the needs of learners, the needs of employers, the needs of the economy and the need for cost effectiveness into the future.” The Review Group was asked to complete its work before the end of 2013. A Technical Group was also established to provide background evaluative data for the review. To provide a context for the review, a Background Issues Paper 1 was prepared by the Department of Education and Skills and published at www.education.ie in May 2013 .

Review of the Primary Schools' General Allocation Model

The allocation of additional teaching resources to schools under the terms of the General Allocation Model (GAM) was intended to make possible the development of inclusive primary schools; ensure that primary schools have a means of providing additional teaching support to pupils with learning difficulties and special educational needs arising from high incidence disabilities without recourse to making applications on behalf of individual pupils and included additional teaching time that was previously allocated for learning-support teaching as well as an allocation of additional teaching time for what was termed resource teaching for pupils with special educational needs arising from high incidence disabilities.