The principal of a DEIS school in West Clare says a lack of state-of-the-art facilities doesn’t necessarily hinder students’ progress.
It comes as a survey has found that the majority of teachers feel the stigma around DEIS schools is undermining the confidence of school-goers.
A total of 18 schools in Clare are part of the DEIS programme, which stands for Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools.
The Department of Education initiative aims to reduce educational disadvantage by granting funding and resources to schools with the highest number of students deemed to be at risk.
A new survey conducted by the Think-tank for Action on Social Change and commissioned by the TUI asked 227 teachers and 49 school leaders about their views on the scheme.
On the positive side, 62% said the DEIS programme improves access to higher education, but it was also claimed that infrastructure and resource problems are preventing children from progressing.
Teachers also reported that students are internalising negative stereotypes about DEIS schools and consequently see themselves as “low achieving or non academic”.
Principal of Furglan NS Patricia Vaughan says student confidence has become a concern since the pandemic, but efforts are being made to turn this around.
Many teachers surveyed seemed to be in agreement that DEIS schools’ facilities aren’t of a high standard with 32.5% rating science labs and sports facilities as “poor” or “very poor”.
Principal of St. Joseph’s Community College in Kilkee Agnes Hehir says this factor hasn’t held students back from achieving highly in recent years.
Listen to the full interview here
