STEM grants competition
Deputy Bríd Smith raised confusion around a STEM education grants competition and a local school problem. The Taoiseach said he was familiar with the issue and would ask the Department of Education to contact her with details.
Before Christmas and after the House had shut down, the results of a competition none of us, I think, knew about were released. Indeed, the people who had applied for it did not know until they had sent in the applications that it was a competition. It was for grants in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, education. There were over 2,700 applications from schools around the country. That is a great thing. It indicates both the enthusiasm of the teachers and the relevance of those subjects in today's world.
According to one principal from my constituency who contacted me, the applicants had no idea they were applying for a grant on the basis of a competition. In other words, schools were pitted against each other. When the announcement was made, it turned out 19% of the total number of applicants made up the funding allocated and 27% of that went to DEIS schools. Could we not look at a system where DEIS schools would get positive discrimination in the areas where there are fewer chances for people to develop their knowledge in the areas of science, technology, engineering and maths?
