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Minister Bruton announces Action Plan for Disadvantaged Schools

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Minister Bruton speaks with school principal Rosemarie Gaffney at St Joseph's National School

Minister Bruton visited a primary school in north Dublin to lay out his initial plans to improve opportunities for children from disadvantaged areas, as part of his first major public engagement as education Minister.

The new plan, which will constitute an updated DEIS scheme, will draw on international best practice for using the education system to increase opportunities and outcomes for children from disadvantaged areas.

The plan is expected to include targeted measures in the areas of:

  • Supporting school leadership.
  • Networks and clusters for DEIS teachers and schools – including greater supported self-evaluation.
  • Teaching methodologies.
  • Explore ways in which the work of schools could be better integrated with other state supports within the community
  • Greater use of Home School Community Liaison.

The DEIS scheme, which has resulted in improved outcomes in schools involved is currently being reviewed after ten years in operation. The Programme for Government commits to publish a new Action Plan for Education within 12 months – Minister Bruton plans to exceed that target by publishing the plan by end 2016.

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Minister Bruton has his fingerprint taken by Ali McCormack as part of a student science experiment

Speaking at today’s announcement, Minister Bruton said:

In few areas do we have more capacity to achieve our goal of a strong economy and a fair society than education. By getting our system of supports for schools in disadvantaged areas right, we can have huge impact on the life prospects of children – increasing their chances of learning well in school, of going on to higher education, of entering and remaining in the workforce, and of avoiding the many problems that too often impact on families in these areas.

This is why I plan to make disadvantage a major theme of my Ministry and why I plan in doing this to focus above all on improving educational outcomes for these children.