Press release
Minister for Education welcomes publication of OECD review on ‘Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland’
Published on
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Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has today (18 July) welcomed the publication by the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies project of the ‘Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland’.
The Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme is the Department of Education’s main policy to address the impact of educational disadvantage at school level.
There are approximately 260,000 children and young people or one in four of all students supported through the programme in 1,196 schools nationwide.
The review provides an independent, expert opinion on the current approach to resourcing schools to support children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage. The review will inform future policy to build on, and strengthen, our approach to resourcing schools to address the impact of educational disadvantage on children and young people attending all schools, both DEIS and non-DEIS.
The report published today notes that Ireland has an education system that consistently outperforms many other OECD countries but also exhibits relative socio-economic fairness, making it one of the stronger performers globally. It also recognises the positive impact of resources provided universally to all schools as well as the additional resources provided to schools in the DEIS programme in addressing educational disadvantage.
The review also highlights that, despite continued improvements over the past decade, important differences in outcomes persist between DEIS and non-DEIS schools and for children and young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and Travellers and Roma.
This review sets a number of recommendations for future policy, to bridge those gaps, improve equity and ensure every child and young person at risk of educational disadvantage is supported to achieve their potential in education.
Minister Foley said:
“I welcome this OECD review of the resources to tackle educational disadvantage in our schools. Over the last number of years, as a government, we have particularly prioritised equality of opportunity and access in education for children and young people from all backgrounds.
“We have expanded our DEIS programme with one in four children now benefiting from DEIS supports. This Government has also built on the success of the DEIS programme through enhancing universal supports to schools, such as the free school-books scheme at primary and Junior Cycle and the hot meals scheme, which have a positive impact on meeting the basic needs of children at risk of educational disadvantage across the system.
“I know, however, there are many students not attending DEIS schools who are also at risk of educational disadvantage. This OECD report will help us to provide resources in a targeted manner to all students at risk of educational disadvantage.
“I would like to thank the team from the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies project for all its work in conducting this review and developing this report. I would also like to thank all who engaged with the OECD review team, particularly the communities of the six schools visited. The staff, children and young people and parents who gave their time and shared their experiences, highlighted the commitment by our schools to remove barriers to education and provide equity of opportunity to all.
“Over the coming months my Department will work with other government departments and agencies, the education partners, and stakeholders across the education sector to develop the recommendations set out in this report into tangible actions that can have a positive impact on the future outcomes of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage. We will also consider the potential to implement more immediate actions for the coming school year.”
The ‘Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland’ was jointly funded by the Department of Education and the European Commission Learning Lab on Investing in Quality Education and Training and is available here . The review is also available on the OECD website: OECD Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland
Overview of the OECD Review on Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland
Action 4 of the DEIS Plan 2017 sets out for the development of a more tailored and graded model of allocation of resources to schools in the DEIS programme. Considering the changing demographics of schools, this was extended to consider the allocation of resources to all schools to address educational disadvantage.
To inform the implementation of this action, in July 2023, Minister Foley announced that the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies project had been invited to conduct a review of Ireland’s resource allocation approach to address educational disadvantage at school level.
The review is not a review of the overall DEIS programme. The review findings and recommendations will inform future policy development of the DEIS resource allocation model and school resourcing policies aimed at addressing educational disadvantage in all schools. The resulting policy will include actions aimed at a further evaluation of the impact of the DEIS programme in order to inform the Department on the continued development of the programme to meet the needs of children and young people.
An important part of the country review work of the Education for Inclusive Societies project consists of collecting information on country approaches, policies and practices that address diversity and foster equity and inclusion, and the evidence of their impact. With these objectives in mind, the OECD review team required information on Ireland’s approach to equity and inclusion through the preparation of a Country Background Report (CBR) by the Department of Education, to enable Ireland to set its approaches in context. The CBR provides information on policies and practices that promote equity and inclusion in the education system to facilitate the analysis to be developed within the OECD project.
The CBR also provides comprehensive insights into Ireland’s broader national educational landscape and policy environment from early years to post-primary, ensuring that it serves as a reliable reference that can be accurately cited by the OECD. The CBR is available here .
Since summer 2023, the OECD review team engaged with a range of relevant stakeholders to inform the review. The review team carried out online interviews with a range of stakeholders including representative bodies for principals and deputy principals, teachers, and management boards, representatives from the community and voluntary sector and researchers with an interest in educational disadvantage. The OECD review team also visited Ireland and carried out a round of in-person engagements. The review team met officials from across the Department of Education and a selection of other government departments and agencies. The group also visited a selection of DEIS and non-DEIS schools during its visit and consulted with school staff, parents and children.
The report aims to provide insights and guidance for the Department of Education and other government departments and agencies to reduce barriers to education for children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage. It also serves to help other countries understand the Irish approach to equitable education and to provide input for comparative analyses of the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies project. The scope for the analysis in this report covers primary and post-primary education. The OECD review team focused the review in Ireland on the areas of: i) governance, ii) resourcing; iii) capacity building; iv) school-level interventions and v) monitoring and evaluation. Among student groups, the focus of the review is on children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage, Travellers and Roma. The review analysis was primarily conducted during 2023, therefore the most recent educational data used in this report reflects the situation during the 2022/23 school year, though some data presented are older.
OECD Education for Inclusive Societies Project
The OECD Education for Inclusive Societies Project is designed to respond to the increasing diversity that characterises education systems and seeks to help governments and relevant stakeholders achieve more equitable and inclusive education systems as a pillar to create more inclusive societies. Recent reviews include a Review of Inclusive Education in Portugal and a review of the Right to Learn Programme in Finland. Further information on the project can be found at: OECD Education for Inclusive Societies
European Commission Learning Lab on Investing in Quality Education and Training
The Learning Lab promotes the use of education policy evaluation practices in the EU and identifies ways to invest in education policies. The Learning Lab is an EU-wide umbrella initiative that started on 28 November 2022. The initiative provides relevant authorities with knowledge, tools, methods, and resources they could use in order to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of their public spending on education and training and will encourage an evidence-informed approach to policy design and implementation in education and training. It brings together the Commission (in its supporting role) and the relevant authorities in the Member States, who can participate in this initiative on a voluntary basis. Further information can be found at: European Commission Learning Lab