The Future of School Completion Programme: A Focus Paper Addressing Key Issues in Educational Disadvantage

Transcription

1 The Future of School Completion Programme: A Focus Paper Addressing Key Issues in Educational Disadvantage

2 Introduction This focus paper aims to present the strengths and potential of SCP (School Completion Programme) project work in supporting Irish young people at risk of early school leaving. Proposals by government representatives to further reduce the annual budget, under the provision of the DCYA (Department of Children and Youth Affairs) will be addressed. The impact of current budgetary cutbacks applied consecutively since 2008 on schools supported by the programme, as well as on SCP personnel will also be considered here. In addition, analysis of national statistical data on retention rates in both DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) and non-deis Post-Primary schools is provided, in order to present a balanced appraisal of the present situation with regard to the role of SCP in the educational disadvantage setting. The Work of SCP Established in 2002, SCP endeavours to have a significant positive impact on levels of young people s retention in primary and second level schools and on numbers of pupils who successfully complete the Senior Cycle, or equivalent. 1 In fulfilling this objective, the programme coordinates school-based interventions that target those pupils most at risk of developing the kinds of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties that hinder academic achievement and the experience of engaging positively in the educational environment. SCP offers an extensive array of inschool, after-school, out-of-school and holiday period support services aimed at 1 See National overview of the School Completion Programme for reporting period , Child and Family Agency (Appendix #1) Errors and Omissions Excepted Page 2

3 enhancing pupil participation in education. These interventions are designed to address the needs of target pupils in each local area, as identified in each case by the local stakeholders. SCP projects may be delivered on either an individual or wholeclass basis. 2 Each of the 124 SCP cluster arrangements nationwide is engaged in a tailored response to their respective school communities which involves vital links with educational stakeholders and families, as well as professional services provided by members of the local community. These links are crucial, not just in supporting targeted pupils, but in developing mutually beneficial relationships which contribute to the overall well-being of the wider communities served by the schools. These stakeholders in turn value and depend on SCP to address the needs of the school community as they arise and feedback at local level is consistently positive with regard to support services provided by SCP. SCP projects are ideally situated to systematically identify target pupils at an early stage in the primary education setting. Interventions designed to address these pupils needs can be quickly implemented and the target pupils can be tracked as they transfer from primary to post-primary schools. Projects can be delivered by schoolbased teams and are integrated within the existing school structures, thereby eradicating the need for protracted assessment procedures and consultation timeframes. SCP interventions are action-oriented, child-centred and needs-based, and as such, are best suited for the immediate tackling of issues affecting pupil participation in the educational context. These conditions are key to achieving tangible results for young people. Many SCP staff are qualified in professional fields such as 2 See Activities in the School Completion Programme (Appendix #2) for a comprehensive list of SCP services Errors and Omissions Excepted Page 3

4 psychology, local and community development, education, social and health care. This means that dedicated support teams employed by SCP have immeasurable potential to provide targeted support across a broad range of disciplines. The Impact of Budgetary Cut Backs In the wake of cuts to the national educational budget in recent years, SCP has undertaken the provision of services which substitute for the loss of specialised teaching to many of the pupils most at risk of early school leaving. This has meant that SCP projects have increasingly been bridging the shortfall created by the loss of language teachers, VTTs (Visiting Teachers for Travellers) and RTTs (Resource Teachers for Travellers), as well as resource hours allocated to SEN (Special Educational Needs). The SCP budget at national level is also used to fund programmes such as Business in the Community, the Teen Parenting Programme and after-school clubs held in local Resource Centres, all of which are designed to address underlying issues linked with educational disadvantage and to encourage young people to remain engaged with education. At times of fiscal short fall, there is unarguably a need to concentrate funds in areas of greatest need and to assess the impact that both programme interventions and budgetary constraints are having on the quality of service provision to targeted young people and the operation of SCPs across the country. Surveys of SCPs nationwide are currently being undertaken internally in order to ascertain the impact that budget cuts to date have had on the running of individual programmes. Initial feedback reveals trends in the following areas; reductions to or cutting of specific supports/interventions, reductions to project workers hours, redundancies and Errors and Omissions Excepted Page 4

5 instances of project workers and local Coordinators finding themselves forced to take un-paid leave in order to maintain service provision within the allocated budget. Programme coordinators note that preventative interventions have suffered as a result of cut backs to funding, while the demand for administrative procedures has increased exponentially since SCP was reassigned to the Child and Family agency, Tusla. In recent years for example, SCPs have been requested to desist from offering counselling, by the funding agency. However, crisis situations have arisen in schools, particularly threatened suicide, where SCP has been requested by schools to provide counselling urgently. SCPs still provide an immediate response to this in the absence of an appropriate response from public health services. Retention Current statistical data on national retention rates illustrates the progress that has been made in tackling educational disadvantage in recent years. The national Leaving Certificate retention rate stands at just over 90%, with early-school leaving numbers comparing favourably amongst the other countries in the European Union. 3 Although the retention rate in DEIS schools is around 10% lower than the national average, the improvement in DEIS schools retention rates in recent years has been significantly higher than the overall improvement nationally. 4 Figure 1 Percentage increase in Junior Cert Retention in DEIS schools between 2005 and % 0.42% Percentage increase in Leaving Cert Retention in DEIS schools between 2005 and % 1.03% Percentage increase in Junior Cert Retention in non-deis schools between 2005 and 2006 Percentage increase in Leaving Cert Retention in non-deis schools between 2005 and See Retention Rates of Pupils in Second Level Schools: 2007 Entry Cohort (January 2014), p Ibid, see p. 13 (Appendix #3) Errors and Omissions Excepted Page 5

6 The above table illustrates one example of DEIS schools improved retention rates at both Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate. 5 Data for the subsequent cohort, that of 2007, reflects the most recent statistical analysis and reveals a continued trend of increase in retention in both DEIS and non-deis schools. DEIS schools for this time period continue to outperform non-deis schools in terms of improvement. This decreases the gap between school categories by a further.5% in one year. Both reports used for the purposes of analysis highlight that the majority of dropout across the board tends to occur between year 1 and year 2 of senior cycle. As SCP provides support services to DEIS and non-deis schools alike, it can be deduced that the programme has contributed to both sets of figures and therefore to favourable increases in each case. Minister Ruairi Quinn s acknowledgment of SCP as counting amongst the key contributors to the improvements being achieved is encouraging. 6 These results are indeed positive, particularly in view of the fact that they have been achieved in a climate of incremental reductions to SCP funding since 2008, amounting to around 30% at the present day. Conclusion Part of the remit of SCP is also to positively influence educational policy. 7 Local Coordinators of the SCP advance the conviction that increased diminution of funding to support programme interventions nationally can only serve to stymie the recent 5 See Retention Rates of Pupils in Second Level Schools: 2005 and 2006 Cohorts, November 2012 for full set of data (Appendix #4) 6 See Minister s comments in Learning from DEIS, Marino Institute of Education, Thursday 15 May 2014 (Appendix #5) 7 See National overview of the School Completion Programme for reporting period , Child and Family Agency (Appendix #1) Errors and Omissions Excepted Page 6

7 improvements to Irish retention rates announced by Minister Quinn earlier this year. 8 However, at greater risk is the diminishing of the quality of service provision to the most disadvantaged in the Irish educational context. Whether recent successes in terms of retention can be repeated in future research for subsequent cohorts in a climate of dwindling financial support at government level seems unclear. If progressing with further financial cuts to SCP budgets nationally is the intention, there is an urgent need to be mindful that SCP is currently bridging the gap in specialised services caused by cut backs in the budget of the Department of Education and Skills in recent years. The position of SCP personnel incurring personal financial loss in order to meet their professional commitments to targeted young people in schools is clearly an untenable and regrettable resolution to a budgetary issue. The mandate of the SCP has not altered, despite changes in access to funding. Minister Quinn s commitment to continue, with urgency, to tackle educational disadvantage in Ireland is indeed welcome. It is hoped that this commitment will be honoured and acted upon by Minister Jan O Sullivan in the future in a way that secures the future success of SCP in delivering quality services to disadvantaged young people in the Irish education system. 8 See Minister Quinn s comments in Learning from DEIS, Marino Institute of Education, Thursday 15 May 2014 (Appendix #5) Errors and Omissions Excepted Page 7

8 Appendices 1-5 #1 National overview of the School Completion Programme for reporting period , Child and Family Agency #2 Activities in the School Completion Programme #3 Retention Rates of Pupils in Second Level Schools: 2007 Entry Cohort, (January 2014) #4 Retention Rates of Pupils in Second Level Schools: 2005 and 2006 Cohorts, (November 2012) #5 Learning from DEIS, Marino Institute of Education, Thursday 15 May 2014 Errors and Omissions Excepted Page 8