Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 April 2004
430 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has received an application for a resource teaching assistant for a person (details supplied); the date on which the application was received; if and when he will make such teaching support available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11867/04]
View answer431 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has received a request for resource teaching assistance for a person (details supplied); the date when the application was received in his office; if and when he will make such resource teacher support available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11868/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 430 and 431 together.
My Department has received applications for special educational resources, SER, from the school referred to by the Deputy including two applications for the pupils in question.
SER applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003, including those made by this school, are being considered at present. In all, more than 5,000 such applications were received. Priority was given to cases involving children starting school last September and all of these cases were responded to before or soon after the commencement of the current school year.
The balance of more than 4,000 applications has been reviewed by a dedicated team comprising members of my Department's inspectorate and the national educational psychological service. These applications are being further considered in the context of the outcome of surveys of SER provision conducted over the past year or so. Account is also being taken of the data submitted by schools as part of the recent nationwide census of SER provision.
The processing of the applications is a complex and time-consuming operation. However, my Department is endeavouring to have this completed as quickly as possible and my officials will then respond to all applicant schools. Pending a response, schools are advised to refer to circular 24/03, which issued in September, 2003. This circular contains practical advice on how to achieve the most effective deployment of resources already allocated for special educational needs within the school.
My Department is reviewing existing arrangements for the allocation of special educational supports to primary schools. In that context, my officials have initiated discussions on the matter with representative interests. At this stage, it would be premature to anticipate the outcome. However the basic purpose of that review is to ensure that each school has the level of resources required to cater for its pupils with special educational needs. A further communication will be sent to schools shortly.
