Results 321-340 of 4,782 for speaker:Olwyn Enright

Written Answers — Schools Recognition: Schools Recognition (1 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Question 314: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if it is possible that a school (details supplied) in County Kerry be considered as co-educational in view of the fact that it has boys up to first class; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2516/05]

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (1 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Question 315: To ask the Minister for Education and Science further to Parliamentary Question No. 216 of 16 December 2004 (details supplied), if the schools in question have been assigned band ratings; when progress will be made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2517/05]

Written Answers — Zimbabwean Elections: Zimbabwean Elections (2 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Question 134: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding the upcoming elections in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2627/05]

Special Educational Needs. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Question 1: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will report on the responsibilities of and work undertaken to date by the National Council for Special Education; if she has discussed with the council the system of weighted allocation of resources for children with special educational needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3283/05]

Special Educational Needs. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: The weighted system that the Minister claims she is reviewing was not to come into operation until September 2005. However, I have the impression that it is already partly in operation. Teachers, principals and parents inform me that children with special needs are being refused services on the grounds that the school is, for example, an all-girls' one with fewer resources. There appears to...

Special Educational Needs. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Many children whose needs have not changed and who previously had a service have been refused resources in recent months. The assumption made is that the schools were operating on a different policy. I have come across a number of cases where it was the principal rather than the psychologist or the Department who informed the parents that their child did not come under the system. This...

School Curriculum. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Question 4: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress being made on the implementation of the recommendations of the task force on the physical sciences; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3284/05]

School Curriculum. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: That reply is practically identical to one I received from the previous Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, on 30 June 2004. I would not have submitted the question if I thought I would receive the same reply, because it is already on the record. I submitted the question again because I wanted to know what progress has been made since June 2004. I presume the answer is none, because if there had...

School Curriculum. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Regarding the implementation of the task force recommendations, will the Minister tell us which of them cannot be implemented so that people can discuss the merits or otherwise of what is there rather than indulging in a vain hope that it will all happen eventually, because it will not?

School Curriculum. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Is there a timescale?

School Curriculum. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: "Never" is the answer.

Schools Building Projects. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Who sets the costs for community use and is it viable and affordable for all communities? There have been some teething problems. It has been said to me in one of the schools that I visited that basic repairs can be difficult since, instead of simply going to the Department, one must now go to the company and then to the Department. That can be for quite small matters. For larger concerns, it...

Schools Building Projects. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Play Stations.

Special Educational Needs. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: The Minister said regarding the weighted system that the rationale is that children will not have to wait for as long as previously. However, I conducted a survey last year that showed that one in four had been waiting for more than nine months to be assessed by NEPS despite, I imagine, the extra resources outside NEPS assessments, or the scheme of commissioning as the Minister terms it. Does...

School Accommodation. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: In her initial reply the Minister referred to the meetings held in Tullamore in respect of 122 schools. If schools included in that number have a short lifetime left to them and approval of planning permission is six or eight months away, this would mean that the projects could not start and finish within the envisaged 15-month timeframe. Will such schools be able to remain within the...

School Curriculum. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: I thank the Minister for her reply. Does the Minister intend to make physical education a mandatory subject at second level? I am not too concerned in this regard because I believe the majority of students at second level engage in PE. Is the Minister of the opinion that the one hour of PE per week at primary level is sufficient? It may be appropriate in the early stages of primary education...

School Curriculum. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: The Minister has covered it. It was about access to sports for girls and boys.

Standardised Testing. (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: The Minister said that 95% of schools use some kind of standardised testing. To what use does the Department put that information? Does it look at the special needs resources allocation, classification of disadvantage, or increased funding? If the information does not have a function, then what does the Department hope to achieve if testing were to be introduced?

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Question 78: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the amount allocated towards primary school building projects for 2004; the amount spent that year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2963/05]

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (3 Feb 2005)

Olwyn Enright: Question 175: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if the progress of the schools building programme for 2005 will be reviewed during the course of the year; the progress made to date on the implementation of the programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3285/05]