Analysis: The short lived expert group made some far-reaching recommendations around educational disadvantage
By Judith Harford and Brian Fleming, UCD
Twenty years ago, the Educational Disadvantage Committee (EDC) completed its first term of office. But, for reasons that were never fully explained, it was never replaced or renewed. The first reference to plans for such a committee was in 1997, when the Education Bill contained a stipulation that the Minister 'may' appoint a committee to provide advice on the issue of educational disadvantage. As the bill progressed through the Oireachtas, then Minister for Education, Micheál Martin, introduced an amendment, changing the word ‘may’ to ‘shall’ and the bill became law in 1998.
The first and only EDC was appointed in March 2002 with educationalist Prof Áine Hyland as chairperson. It had a three-year term of office, and was designed as an expert rather than a representative group. Over the course of its tenure, the group submitted four reports to the Minister for Education on identifying disadvantage and targeting resources; teacher supply and staffing in disadvantaged areas; an integrated delivery service; and priority areas for action in adult and community education.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, Evelyn O'Rourke continues her series on educational disadvantage
It concluded its term of office in 2005 with the Moving Beyond Educational Disadvantage report, which identified a number of principles it felt should underline any national policy on educational disadvantage. These principles were underscored by the centrality of a rights-based approach to equality, inclusion and diversity, integration of strategies, structures and systems, coherence of provision, focussed target-setting and measurement and monitoring of outcomes and results.
This in turn led to a strategy based on three goals:
- Achieve educational equality in the broader context of achieving social inclusion.
- Provide inclusive opportunities for learning at all stages of the life cycle.
- Improve the mainstream school system so that all young people aged from three to 18 receive an education that is appropriate to their needs.
In May 2005, then Minister for Education Mary Hanafin launched the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) programme. This brought coherence to the various standalone schemes that had been introduced over the years as well as providing some additional resources. It also introduced an independent mechanism for recognising areas of particular disadvantage which in turn determined the additional resources made available to local schools. But it is remarkable that no effort was made then or since to analyse the problems faced in particular areas and the level of resources that would be needed in order to overcome them.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, Minister for Education Helen McEntee on more supports for Deis schools
In their final report, the EDC welcomed the introduction of the DEIS plan, although, as they pointed out, their own plan went further. In particular, it was based on the belief that ‘schools alone cannot achieve educational equality’ and therefore it stressed the role of other bodies, government departments and agencies, together with the voluntary sector, in working towards a more ambitious social and economic change agenda. The DEIS plan, by contrast, had a narrower focus, essentially outlining actions that should be taken within the formal education system.
The production by the Department of Education of the DEIS plan in May 2005 came as something of a surprise to members of the EDC. It seems that they were unaware that the Department was intending to take this step, even though senior officials from the department had been attending meetings of the EDC.
When the term of office of the first committee ended, it fell to the Minister for Education and the Government to appoint a new one, as required by law. There is no evidence of any urgency on the part of the department or minister to appoint members to commence a new term of office. It wasn’t until 2006, six months after the first committee exited office, that letters issued to the Education partners advising that the process of appoint a new committee was underway, and seeking their views on the future work such a committee should undertake.
In their final report, the EDC welcomed the introduction of the DEIS plan, although, as they pointed out, their own plan went further
In March 2007 the Minister indicated that the views as expressed by the various groupings were being considered, following which the new EDC would be appointed. However, a few months later, the Minister for State at the Department announced that the government had decided that a formal statutory committee was no longer required.
As the setting up of an EDC was a requirement of the Education Act of 1998, legislation was required to abolish it. This came before the Oireachtas in 2012, seven years after the committee had last met, notwithstanding the legislative requirement to have an EDC in the meantime. The Minister for Education expressed the view that an EDC was not necessary in light of the introduction of DEIS. Subsequently, he expressed confidence ongoing evaluations of DEIS would inform future policy decisions.
These events are difficult to rationalise. More than three years elapsed between the end of the term of office of the first EDC and the announcement of its abolition. The Minister’s subsequent claims that consultation with education partners and commissioned research on DEIS were equivalent to the role an independent statutory committee might have fulfilled in evaluating provision was not convincing at the time.
It may be that the establishment of such a unit is recognition, belated somewhat, that the strategy of the EDC was indeed the correct one
Subsequent events confirmed those concerns. Relying solely on the DEIS programme and process implies that schools and the education system more broadly are well placed to tackle the problem of educational disadvantage in a fundamental way. The EDC, on the other hand, felt that a whole of government and indeed a wider societal approach was what was required.
In 2017, a group of leading Irish educationalists produced a detailed review of the Irish school system on behalf of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals and the Irish Primary Principals Network which called for the re-establishment of the Educational Disadvantage Committee. In their view, it should comprise officials from the relevant departments and those with expertise in the area of equity and education.
Successive governments have ignored this suggestion, but then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, established a Child Poverty and Well-Being Programme Office within his Department in 2023. This was with a view to promoting an all-government response to the issue of child poverty, noting that education policy would be a central focus of its work.
It may be that the establishment of such a unit is recognition, belated somewhat, that the strategy of the EDC was indeed the correct one. This initiative, if it succeeds in harnessing the energies and expertise of all of the relevant agencies, could bring about change, especially if it is actively supported at senior political level. Having said that, it would not match the level of expertise and potential impact of an independent statutory committee.
Follow RTÉ Brainstorm on WhatsApp and Instagram for more stories and updates
Prof Judith Harford is Full Professor of Education at the School of Education at UCD. She was awarded the Research Ireland Researcher of the Year Impact Award in 2022. Dr Brian Fleming is a researcher in the School of Education at UCD and a retired school principal.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
