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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 25 Jul 1996

Vol. 468 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - Remedial Teachers Posts.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. Like my colleagues, I am disappointed that the Minister with responsibility for the area in which I am particularly interested, that of remedial education, is not here to answer the question.

The replies given to my colleagues tonight do not augur well for the people I represent, namely, the young people in County Clare who have not had, nor does it seem likely that they will have in the coming year, an opportunity for remedial education. I raise this matter because in 1994-95 five remedial teachers were appointed to County Clare. In 1995-96 only one appointment was made. Now it appears that in 1996-97 no remedial teachers will be appointed to County Clare. Out of 123 schools in Clare, almost half have no remedial teacher.

It is most important — I am sure the Minister who is present to answer this question will agree — that it is the right of every child to have remedial teaching if he or she is in need of that service whether he or she happens to live in an urban or rural area. In putting forward proposals to deal with disadvantage, the Minister should, once again, look at the definition of disadvantage. The Minister's proposal to put one co-ordinator into a cluster of schools in each county seems daft. It could only be termed a pilot scheme. It could be seen also as ghettoising: it does not address the real problem of disadvantage and the need for remedial teaching.

What is the point in appointing a co-ordinator to a cluster of rural schools to assist those coming from disadvantaged backgrounds when these schools do not even have a remedial teacher? The Minister for Education must reassess her priorities. I hope she will realise, even this late in the day, that her priority must be to primary school level and, within primary school level, her priority should be the provision of remedial teaching to children in rural and urban areas.

A number of schools in County Clare have been waiting for 30 years for a remedial service. This year, with 300 teachers available for redeployment, the opportunity should have been taken to appoint one remedial teacher to clusters of, perhaps, three to four primary schools, rather than having the unrealistic situation we have in Clare which I am sure pertains to other areas as well of having a remedial teacher for clusters of five, six or seven schools. That is not the way to address the serious problems of education. When we have 300 teachers to be redeployed this year, the whole question of remedial teachers and the lowering of the pupil-teacher ratio should be addressed.

I hope when the Minister of State replies that he will not simply read yet another irrelevant reply. I hope I will be able to bring home good news to the people of County Clare. Not only the teachers but the parents and the people in the local area who have educational interests at heart hope that in fighting for the provision of a remedial service for the children will hear a more positive reply than we have heard in recent weeks from the Minister with regard to the whole question of remedial teaching. I hope that if she does decide to reassess her position the Minister will do so positively along the lines I have suggested so that all young girls and boys will have the same chance at primary level of reaching their full potential. The Minister for Education should realise that that should be one of her most important and, perhaps, primary functions.

I thank the Deputy and the office of the Ceann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity of replying to this debate on behalf of the Minister for Education who, unfortunately, cannot be present this evening.

The Minister for Education is not in a position at present to make remedial teacher posts available to the primary school sector. As has been indicated to the House in the past, remedial education at primary level is a matter, in the first instance, for the ordinary class teachers. The majority of pupils with remedial needs would, therefore, be helped within the scope of the normal teaching services.

However, it is acknowledged that remedial teachers constitute the main additional resource for addressing the problem of under-achievement in primary schools. Substantial additional resources have been allocated in this area in recent years.

In 1995, an additional 55 remedial teachers were appointed to primary schools and 223 schools benefited from this allocation. This brought the total number of remedial teachers in place to 1,188. Of the 3,209 ordinary national schools throughout the country, approximately 2,285 now have the services of a remedial teacher either on a full-time or on a shared basis.

Of the 122 ordinary national schools in County Clare, 63 of these with an enrolment of 8,941 pupils on 30 September 1995 have the services of a remedial teacher either on a full-time or shared basis available to them. This includes five schools allocated a remedial service with effect from the commencement of the 1995-96 school year as part of the distribution of the 55 posts. These posts were allocated on the basis of priority of need following the collection and analysis of information from the schools by the Department's primary inspectorate and also having consideration for data submitted by the schools. This means that 73 per cent of pupils attending national schools in County Clare currently enjoy a remedial service.

The Minister for Education has indicated to the House her intention to review the needs in this area and consider how best these needs can be addressed within available resources. When the Minister for Education is in a position to further extend the remediation service, all national schools in County Clare which have applied for a remedial service will receive every consideration.

At this stage, 87 per cent of the pupils in our primary schools have the possibility of access to a remedial teacher. This is a big improvement on the position when the Minister for Education took office in 1993 when 77 oper cent of pupils had the possibility of such access.

That is not the percentage in rural areas; that is the overall figure. The Minister is being economical with the truth.

It is a matter of regret to the Minister that it is not possible at present to meet the needs of all pupils for remedial teaching, as, unfortunately, she has limited resources.

The Dáil adjourned at 10.40 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 25 September 1996.

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