Last year, the Principals of the five primary schools in Tipperary Town approached the Government for DEIS status. It was acknowedged by the Government that the schools qualified, but they were refused. Click below to read more.
What is DEIS?
Well-established research shows that there is a very strong link between the education obtained by a child during their primary school years and attainment later in life. Indeed, the research shows that children attending the same school will have differing outcomes based on their socio-economic backgrounds and the level of disadvantage or deprivation they experience when they are young.
In an effort to counter this difference in attainment, the Department of Education and Skills developed the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) plan. DEIS status for a school could mean:
- additional grant funding, depending on the level of disadvantage in the area
- Access to Schools Meals Programme
- Access to range of supports under School Completion Programme
- Access to literacy/numeracy support such as Reading Recovery, Maths Recovery, First Steps, Ready Set Go Maths
- Additional funding under School Books Grant Scheme
Clearly, these would be very valuable interventions for Tipperary Town children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In Tipperary Town, almost double the number of children finish school before the age of 15 when compared to the national average
This begs the question as to what standard of living you can expect later in life if your education ends before you are 15. Clearly, measures such as DEIS are vital to Tipperary Town.
Disadvantage in Tipperary Town
The Pobal Deprivation Index is a scientific measurement of the level of deprivation, or disadvantage in an area. It is used by Government departments to assess the level of disadvantage in an area. Almost all of Tipperary Town is scored as "Very Disadvantaged".
- The Pobal Deprivation Map, showing most of Tipperary Town as Very Disadvantaged.
Action Taken by the Schools
In an interview with the Irish Times in December 2017, Louise Tobin, Principal of St Joseph's Primary School, told the paper that some children clearly don't have the same starting point as others. She said:
“Many simply don’t have the vocabulary or the bank of nursery rhymes that other children would have. They might not have had a breakfast, or won’t have a proper lunch.”
The Irish Times article goes on to say: "In the case of St Joseph’s, however, a delegation was told by department officials that they were “in the space” of meeting Deis criteria, but were not being admitted at this time". That article was published after the school had been refused DEIS status in February 2017.
The five schools - St. Michael’s Junior Boys and Girls Schools, Monastery BNS, Gaelscoil Tiobraid Arann and St. Joseph’s Primary School worked together to lobby for DEIS status and approached all five Tipperary TDs. The Principals were very disappointed about the support they got from their elected representatives. The Nationalist Newspaper quoted one of the principals as saying that "they felt 'let down' by the county's five TDs". Lousie Tobin is quoted as saying "
"We didn't get the help we needed from our politicians. We had a very positive meeting in Tipperary and we were promised support from all of them. We had a great submission and we asked them to work collectively on our behalf. But they didn't work collectively. They were not willing to do so. I have a file of the very same letters from all of the TDs". (emphasis added)
In protest at the decision to exclude the Tipperary Town schools, they marched on the Department of Education to deliver letters, but were met by locked gates.
- Principal of St Joseph's Primary School, Louise Tobin outside the Department of Education
What Happens Now?
The refusal by Government to approve DEIS status for our primary schools is a key issue being promoted by #march4tipp. The march on 20 October is hoped to shine a spotlight on the Town being failed by Government in a key area - the education of our children.
Some Photos from the deputation to the Minister
