(AQW 4276/01)

The Minister of Education (Mr M McGuinness): The total number of applications to Saintfield High School for admission to Year 8 in September 2002 was 110. The primary schools attended by those who were (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful in their applications are detailed below as follows:

The grades obtained in the transfer tests by those who were (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful in their applications are as follows:

In line with the Department’s policy on release of statistical information, numbers smaller than five have been suppressed in order to avoid disclosure of personal information. For this reason figures have not been supplied in respect of each primary school separately, since almost all entries in the table would have been too small.

(AQW 4291/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The accommodation levels for grammar and non-grammar schools are similar except for the provision of accommodation for sixth form students to reflect the number of timetabled and non-timetabled periods in the two types of school. Non-grammar schools have fewer non-timetabled periods and therefore generally require more classroom space than a grammar school but less space for sixth-form activity. My Department’s current policy on sixth form provision in secondary schools is to leave it to the discretion of each school to determine the level of provision within overall accommodation limits.

(AQW 4309/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The following table lists the pupils who have been taught at this Music Centre over the last five years.

(AQW 4310/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The North Eastern Education and Library Board is currently considering the rationalisation of its Music Centre provision. The outcome of these considerations will not be known until the forthcoming academic year.

(AQW 4311/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The Music Service is part of the North Eastern Education and Library Board’s Curriculum Advisory and Support Service. The Board have allocated £540,000 to provide for the Music Service in the current financial year.

(AQW 4334/01)

(a) Expenditure in each of the 3 years in relation to the Department of Education’s mainstream community relations programmes is as follows:

(b) In each of the last 3 years over 40,000 pupils have participated in community relations programmes organised by schools and about 20,000 young people have taken part in community relations activities in over 400 youth clubs. It is not possible to measure the effectiveness of these programmes in the same way, as for example it is for schools. However, feedback from teachers and youth workers confirm that these programmes are having a significant impact in terms of young people from different communities having a better understanding of each other’s cultures and in engendering a greater degree of mutual respect. The Department’s main programme, the Schools Community Relations Programme, has recently been subject to an independent review which has looked at its effectiveness. The report of the Review Team has just been published and made available to schools and other interested parties for comment. I have also written to the Assembly Education Committee inviting them to comment.

(c) In addition expenditure under the EU funding programmes known as PEACE I and GAP Funding is as follows:

(d) Under the PEACE I Programme the Department and its Intermediary Funding Bodies approved over 800 projects. Feedback from project leaders and from children and young people who participated in these projects, from both the formal and non-formal education sectors, confirm that the Programme has had a significant impact, not only on the lives of the participants but also in many cases their families.

Regular monitoring returns were completed by projects throughout the life of the Programme on which progress was monitored against stated targets and objectives. In addition Departmental staff carried out monitoring visits. This monitoring data suggests that at both individual project level and Measure level the Programmes aims and objectives were predominantly met.

No detailed analysis of GAP Funding has been carried out because it only commenced on 1 April 2001 to enable those projects that had been in receipt of EU Funding to continue to operate until the outcome of their PEACE II application is known.

(AQW 4342/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The draft Education and Libraries Bill which has recently been laid before the Assembly contains provisions which will make it mandatory for every grant-aided school to have a written anti-bullying policy and to implement it. This will effectively bring statutory provision here into line with Britain, except there will be a requirement here for pupils as well as parents to be consulted by schools in developing both their general discipline and specific anti-bullying policies.

(AQW 4373/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The consultation period ended on 28 June 2002. I intend to publish the results of the consultation at the end of September and to bring forward proposals on the way forward in the autumn. No decisions will be made until I have considered the responses to the consultation exercise.

(AQW 4424/01)

Mr M McGuinness: It is not possible to give an exact figure at present, as the forms are still being processed. To date, approximately 150,000 forms have been processed. Details of the exact number of responses received will be made available when the results of the consultation are published around the end of September.

(AQW 4438/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The figure of £5.5m includes some non-capital items. My Department’s capital underspend figure is £3.85m – or £7.6m if Education and Library Board capital underspend is included. This is the result of slippage on various projects. Projects which contributed to the capital underspend and which did not proceed in 2001-02 were projects at Omagh Academy; Oakgrove College, Londonderry; and Lakewood Special School, Bangor.

(AQW 4451/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The South-Eastern Education and Library Board has confirmed that Glastry High School introduced a sixth form in the 1992/93 academic year and did not receive any additional assistance to do so. Pupils in the lower and upper 6th forms have been included within the pupil-related elements of the funding formula operated under the terms of the South Eastern Education and Library Board’s LMS Scheme.

(AQW 4453/01)

(a) The number of places available for admission to Year 8 ( Form 1) in September 2002 at Glenlola Collegiate is 157.

(b) The breakdown of admissions by (i) grade A, (ii) grade B and (iii) lower in the transfer test are detailed below as follows:

(c) The Board of Governors admitted several pupils with special circumstances claims.

(d) and (e) – This information is not available as responsibility for admissions decisions rests with the Boards of Governors of individual grammar schools and the Department does not intervene in such matters.

(AQW 4456/01)

Mr M McGuinness: In October 2001 a Senior Official in my Department wrote to the Chief Executive of QCA expressing concern at a number of instances in which local pupils had been adversely affected by the administration of Edexcel. I reiterated these concerns and the shortcomings in Edexcel’s standards of customer service when I wrote to Estelle Morris in February 2002. I understand that Edexcel has already taken a number of steps to improve its service.

(AQW 4457/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The evidence gathered through school inspections by the Education and Training Inspectorate is outlined in paragraphs 8.6 and 8.7 of the Department of Education’s response to the Education Committee’s Inquiry into Early Years Provision. I have arranged for a copy of this to be placed in the Assembly Library. Inspection Reports on individual schools are available both in document form and on the Department of Education Website.

(AQW 4458/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The data requested are not held centrally by the Department of Education. I will need therefore to consult with the education and library boards as to their availability in the form requested. I will write to the Member when this has been done.

(AQW 4459/01)

(a) The Southern Education and Library Board has responsibility for funding this unit under its LMS

(b) A development proposal to establish the unit was approved on 8 March 2002 and carries with it a commitment to allocate funds to the unit.

(c) The approval of any development proposal entails a commitment to the appropriate funding.

(AQW 4460/01)

(AQW 4463/01)

Mr M McGuinness: Any proposals for new post-primary arrangements will not be determined until I have fully considered all the responses to the recent consultation. I do, however, wish to achieve consensus on the way forward and I see discussion at the Executive and in the Assembly as central to that process.

(AQW 4482/01)

Mr M McGuinness: My Department continues to assist Education and Library Boards with their undertaking of job evaluations by providing each Board with additional resources for the employment of a Job Evaluation Officer. In addition, resources have been allocated to Boards to assist with the costs of completed job evaluations. I will continue to seek significant improvement in the level of funding for the Education service to assist the Boards with, among other things, further pressures arising from job evaluation.

(AQW 4483/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The numbers of vehicles owned and used for home to school transport by each board, by age category, is as follows:

The average lifespan of buses varies with seating capacity, and is typically from 5-7 years for smaller buses to 14 years for large buses. The rigorous safety and maintenance schedule employed by boards can increase this average lifespan while buses still remain within the legal and operational limits imposed by the annual licensing requirements.

Boards do not permit buses that have failed to meet the licensing requirements to operate on a scheduled route. Such buses are earmarked for replacement, and my department provides approximately £1m per annum for this purpose.

(AQW 4505/01)

Mr M McGuinness: My Department’s role does not include direct funding for the production of teaching materials for schools, nor is it able to identify the amounts that schools spend from their delegated budgets on materials for any subject.

(AQW 4506/01)

Mr M McGuinness: My Department’s role does not include direct funding for the production of teaching materials for schools, nor is it able to identify the amounts that schools spend from their delegated budgets on materials for any subject.

(AQW 4507/01)

Mr S McGuinness: My Department’s role does not include direct funding for the production of teaching materials for schools, nor is it able to identify the amounts that schools spend from their delegated budgets on materials for any subject.

(AQW 4508/01)

Mr M McGuinness: My Department’s role does not include direct funding for the production of teaching materials for schools, nor is it able to identify the amounts that schools spend from their delegated budgets on materials for any subject.

(AQW 4509/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The statutory curriculum here affords opportunities for schools to ensure that all children receive an education which complies with these rights, mainly through the compulsory Cross-Curricular Themes of Education for Mutual Understanding and Cultural Heritage.

(AQW 4511/01)

Mr M McGuinness: Funded pre-school places are open to all children regardless of religion or destination primary school, and are available in the statutory and voluntary and private sectors.

The 2001 schools census showed that in the statutory sector, 62% of available places were in controlled schools, 35% in maintained and 3% in integrated. A number of new schools and units have yet to be completed. There are no equivalent sub-categories within the voluntary and private sector. Where take-up is concerned, the census showed that 51% of children in funded places are Roman Catholic.

The aim of my Department’s Pre-School Education Expansion Programme is to provide a year of funded pre-school education for every child whose parents wish it by March 2003.

(AQW 2983/01)

The Minister for Employment and Learning (Ms Hanna): [supplementary answer]: Unfortunately, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) figure contained in my answer to you on 24 May 2002 was incorrect.

The figure provided for the expenditure of the CITB credit card of £6,000 was incorrect. This figure included expenditure for the year ending 31 March 2002 only from the beginning of the CITB financial year which was the 1 September 2001. The correct CITB credit card expenditure during the financial year ending 31 March 2002 is £8,351.

I apologise for any inconvenience.

(AQW 4074/01)

Ms Hanna: I am aware that my Department’s programmes need to be appropriate for young people with special needs (including some disabled people) who may have difficulty in attaining accredited standards in training or output levels in open employment. My Department is piloting provision under its Jobskills programme that places more emphasis on pre-vocational personal and social development, including essential skills. If successful, such provision will be available for young people with special needs, including those with certain disabilities. My Department’s also has programmes to help people with disabilities to work in open employment – particularly the Employment Support programme.

(AQW 4209/01)

Ms Hanna: DEL is fully committed to New TSN, and in May this year I was happy to endorse, with my Executive colleagues, the new set of priorities for Promoting Social Inclusion, including homelessness. DEL will contribute fully to this important and urgent work.

(AQW 4279/01)

Ms Hanna: Supplementary grants are paid primarily to students with dependants and include Childcare Grant, School Meals Grant and Travel, Books and Equipment Grant. In addition students who have left care can receive up to £100 per week to help with accommodation costs in the long vacation and students who are disabled can apply for Disabled Students’ Allowances.

(AQW 4282/01)

Ms Hanna: My Department has in place the following funding measures to encourage universities to widen participation from students from disadvantaged backgrounds:

A widening participation premium for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This funding will amount to £1,140k in 2002/03.

Special project funding to allow the universities to test their widening participation strategies and develop partnerships with schools with traditionally low levels of participation in HE. In the period Feb 02 to Jan 03 this will amount to £278k.

In addition a £65m package of measures was introduced to address the wide ranging needs of students in NI and to promote lifelong learning by widening access to HE and FE particularly from those groups who are currently underrepresented and to assist students from low income families.

(AQW 4283/01)

Ms Hanna: Both universities have developed special projects in partnership with local schools to provide opportunities for disadvantaged pupils who have the academic potential to gain entry to higher education. The University of Ulster "Step-Up" programme is a partnership with nine schools in Derry while Queens University’s "Discovering Queens" programme targets all 26 Secondary Schools in the areas covered by the Belfast Partnership Boards. Attached is a list of the schools that have taken part in these projects to date.

• St Joseph’s Secondary School

• St Mary’s College

• St Cecilia’s College

• St Brigid’s High School

• Templemore Secondary School

• Oakgrove Integrated College

• Clondermott High School

• St Peter’s High School

• Faughn Valley High School.

• Ashfield Girls

• Balmoral High School

• Belfast Boys Model

• Belfast Girls Model

• Christion Brothers

• Corpus Christi

• La Salle Boys

• Little Flower Girls

• Orangefield High

• Our Lady Of Mercy

• St Colm’s

• St Gemma’s

• St Genevieve’s

• St Joseph’s

• St Louise’s

• St Patrick’s

• St Rose’s

• Castlereagh College

(AQW 4284/01)

Ms Hanna: Queens University has produced a three year Widening Participation Strategy and Action Plans for the period 01/02 to 03/04. The University of Ulster submitted a preliminary Strategy and Action Plan for 2001/02 with an agreement that the full three year strategy would follow when the University had completed a comprehensive review of its widening participation policy. This review is now complete and I expect the University to submit its Strategy and Action Plans to my Department in the very near future.

(AQW 4290/01)

Ms Hanna: My Department does not collect data in the format requested, however the enclosed tables provide details of full-time and part-time enrolments by vocational area both in 1999/2000 and 2000/01 which shows that enrolments at Lisburn Institute of Further and Higher Education have increased since its merger with Knockmore Training Centre in September 2000.