Deputy Pearse Doherty has criticised the Department of Education and Skills over its decision to refuse to release documents held as part of the process employed to identify schools to be included in the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) Plan for 2017.
The chief initiative of the programme is designed to provide tailored supports to schools with a high concentration of disadvantage.
Deputy Doherty made the comments after a Freedom of Information request seeking information on how schools in Donegal were formally assessed, and the methodology used to determine which schools should be included as part of the revised scheme was refused, despite growing anger amongst many schools in the county over their exclusion from the new plan.
Deputy Doherty said “The DEIS Plan 2017, which officially launched earlier this year, replaced the scheme of 2005 and it had been claimed by the Government that the revised plan would set out new goals for improved outcomes for children at risk of disadvantage and social exclusion.
“And while the Department suggests that an additional 79 schools across the state, which had not participated in the previous programme but will be added this September, there are still serious questions as to how schools were appraised.
“Schools throughout Donegal have voiced their disappointment and anger at the fact that their school has again been excluded from the programme, despite neighbouring schools having either just been added or have been participating in DEIS for a number of years now already.
“In an effort to ease their concerns and perhaps provide some clarity, I immediately wrote to the Department requesting documentation via Freedom of Information in respect of the formal assessment process which had been used to evaluate a number of schools here in Donegal, as well as the methodology involved in identifying schools to partake in the expanded scheme.
“To my amazement, the Department has now replied to state that my requests have been refused and a decision has been taken not to grant me access to the material sought.
“The Department cites reasons such as the data being requested as falling into one of two categories, either personal information or information already in the public domain, for its decision to decline my request.
“This is nonsense as everyone who has ever made an FOI request knows that releasing bodies may choose to redact a request and instead partially release information should it be the case that all the documents being sought are deemed to be unsuitable for release.
“The Department’s refusal has only fuelled the anger of schools that have been left out of the programme for 2017, and it has only reinforced the belief that the entire process has and continues to be shrouded in secrecy.”
Deputy Doherty said it is simply not good enough that schools are being left in the dark like this, and are not having their reservations about the application of the new DEIS plan heard and taken on board by either the Minister or his Department.
“I have been contacted by a number of principals, teachers and parents regarding this issue, and many have spoken of their complete lack of confidence in the ability of the education authorities to provide supports to schools.
“These are schools where the risk of educational disadvantage is high, yet they’ve been excluded from programmes such as DEIS and the School Meals Programme, without much in the way of an explanation as to the reasons why.
“I will continue to work with schools throughout Donegal to make representations on their behalf, and I must praise and acknowledge the work of management in schools, teachers and the parents of pupils all of whom invest so much time and energy into ensuring that their schools meet the needs of students despite the challenges they face.”
