Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2004
218 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the urgent need to upgrade and improve the special needs facilities in Knocklong national school, Knocklong, County Limerick; when he expects this work to be approved and carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13596/04]
View answerMy Department has approved temporary accommodation for Knocklong national school, Knocklong, County Limerick as part of the update of the school building programme that was published on my Department's website on Wednesday, 5 May 2004.
219 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science when his Department will be in a position to grant a special needs assistant to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 24 in view of the fact that this person has been assessed by his Department and is currently in need of a special needs assistant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13597/04]
View answerMy Department has received an application for special educational resources, SER, for the pupil referred to by the Deputy. SER applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003, including one for the pupil in question, 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 these cases were responded to at or before 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, NEPS. These applications are being further considered in the context of the outcome of surveys of SER provision conducted over the past year and the data submitted by schools as part of a 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.
In the case of teacher resources, the outcome for each applicant school will be based on a new weighted system of allocation which I announced recently. This system, as part of which an additional 350 teaching posts will be allocated, will involve two main elements: making a staffing allocation to schools based on a predicted incidence of pupils with special educational needs, and making individual allocations in the case of children with more acute lower-prevalence special educational needs.
It is expected that the change to a weighted system will bring with it a number of benefits. The new system will reduce the need for individualised educational psychological assessment, reduce the volume of applications to my Department for additional resources for individual pupils and give greater flexibility to schools, which will facilitate the development and implementation of improved systems and procedures in schools to meet the needs of pupils with low achievement and pupils with special educational needs.
The detailed arrangements for processing applications for resources, including those for special needs assistants and those received after 31 August last, will be set out in a circular to be issued to schools before the end of the current school year. It is also intended that schools due to receive the additional posts will be notified within this timeframe.
