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DEIS Evaluations Welcome But No Room for Complacency in Supports for Disadvantaged Children: Barnardos
13 January 2012 – Three evaluations of DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) published today prove the need for continued resourcing of schools with high concentrations of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Ireland's leading independent children’s charity, Barnardos said that while the reports issued by the Educational Research Centre (ERC) and the Department of Education Inspectorate indicate that implementation of DEIS needs to be improved, the overall findings prove both the success and necessity of continuing supports for children coping with educational disadvantage.
Norah Gibbons, Barnardos’ Director of Advocacy, said that the ERC report in particular proved the success of interventions for pupils with lower achievement levels and called on the Government to maintain resource allocations that impact on these children: “In any debate about the DEIS programme, the bottom line must always be the outcomes achieved for children and young people. We are greatly encouraged by the findings of the reports but there is no room for complacency when children’s futures are at stake.”
“What the reports published today prove is that while there is more work to do, coordinated and planned educational interventions do work for children, particularly younger children (those in 2nd class in this research). This supports already substantial evidence that interventions delivered early in children’s lives are most successful in helping them to overcome difficulties in education.”
Barnardos welcomed the Department of Education Inspectorate recommendation for the development of clear guidance to help schools with their planning process, particularly in relation to setting targets in the best interests of children, and urged Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, to ensure that the relevant supports are put in place as part of the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy.
The children’s charity also supported the Inspectorate recommendation for additional supports to improve school capacity for the development of whole school literacy and numeracy approaches. Ms. Gibbons said: “This is a measure that Barnardos and others have been advocating for many years. It is crucial that the appropriate training and support is available to teachers and schools to ensure that national and school objectives for literacy and numeracy are connected and that literacy and numeracy skills building is incorporated across the entire school curriculum.”
Barnardos highlighted a particular finding from the Educational Research Centre report that pointed to the need for greater inter-agency cooperation between schools and other services working to support children and young people living in disadvantage.
The ERC report noted that provision for students with emotional or behavioural difficulties was a recurring issue raised by participants in its evaluation. Ms. Gibbons said: “This finding is hugely important as it confirms much of what we already know about the challenges facing children and young people living in disadvantage. Supports for children with specific emotional and behavioural needs within the education system, such as the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), must be better equipped to support pupils but there also needs to be greater coordination at both the national and local level between the various agencies and services working with children. Work is progressing to build the framework for better cooperation between agencies, but it is imperative that the Department of Education is part of that process. Children’s needs are not segregated by Departmental lines; services that meet their needs should not be either.”
ENDS