€10m taken from dormant accounts funding schools

Money from dormant accounts in financial institutions is one of the sources of funds under which more than 400 disadvantaged schools and preschools have been allocated almost €10 million.

The money, which comes from the Dormant Accounts Fund as well as the Rapid Leverage Fund, will allow 20 disadvantaged schools in the Limerick area to remain open after hours, at weekends and during school hours.

It will also enable some 100 disadvantaged schools to apply for funding to achieve digital school status.

Schools that achieve this status are recognised for the excellence of their approach to the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and learning.

Successful applicants for the funding will be allowed to upgrade their existing ICT equipment and to purchase new computers, laptops and digital cameras. They will also be allowed to enhance the capacity of their ICT network.

Elsewhere, the funding will facilitate the upgrading of up to 200 preschools who act as feeders to disadvantaged schools. It will allow them to provide an integrated approach to preschool for Traveller children, as well as materials and training to support preschools in the integration of Traveller children.

The money will also allow the current library enhancement programme in up to 130 disadvantaged schools to be continued.

Announcing details of the funding yesterday, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin said it would enhance "a broad range of supports" for children in more than 400 schools.

The funding to allow the Limerick schools to remain open after hours was a key recommendation in the Fitzgerald report, she said.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times