Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2024
263. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the number of pupils availing of SEN supports in integrated settings in mainstream primary schools and post-primary schools in the past five years. [17344/24]
View answerEnabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.
For 2024, €2.7 billion is being spent on special education, an increase of €113 million, and this is dedicated to providing supports for children with special educational needs.
This includes funding to support children with special educational needs in mainstream classes; funding for new special classes and new special school places; additional special educational teachers, special needs assistants (SNAs) and funding for the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS).
The NCSE has the responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs.
In 2024, the number of teaching and SNA posts in our schools will increase with an additional 744 teachers and 1,216 SNAs added to deliver up to 2,700 new places for children with special educational needs. This will mean we will have over 41,500 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting these children.
Special education teachers provide additional teaching support for students with special educational needs enrolled in mainstream classes in primary and post primary schools. Schools take account of the learning needs of students as evidenced by performance in schools but also supported where relevant by information provided regarding the nature of a condition that a student may have.
Additionally, SNAs play a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs into mainstream education, special classes and special schools ensuring that these students can access education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.
SNAs are allocated to schools as a school based resource and not to individual children. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual principal/board of management. SNAs are deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the students enrolled for whom SNA support has been allocated.
A parent can discuss the level of special education teaching (SET) and SNA support provided to their child with the school, the department is not involved in the allocation of SET or SNA support to individual students.
As schools have flexibility in how they distribute SET and SNA support to students', the total number of students supported is not to hand.
There are presently over 14,400 special education teachers and 11, 800 SNA's supporting students in mainstream classes. The NCSE publish statistics on SNA and SET allocations to primary, post primary and special schools in tabular form, by county and by school, for each school year, on their website, www.ncse.ie.
My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.
