Tom Hayes
Question:38 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Education and Science his plans to provide teacher training in the special needs module to deal with autism for all teachers who qualified before 1998. [21732/02]
Vol. 557 No. 3
38 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Education and Science his plans to provide teacher training in the special needs module to deal with autism for all teachers who qualified before 1998. [21732/02]
It is the policy of my Department that all teachers working with children with special educational needs, including those with autism, will have relevant training. In this regard my Department does not distinguish between teachers who graduated before 1998 and those who graduated after that date.
There has been a major increase in recent years in the level of additional teaching resources made available by my Department to assist schools in catering for children with special educational needs, including children with autism. These additional appointments, however, bring with them the need for additional training in the special needs area and this is being addressed on an ongoing basis.