Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2004
225 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Education and Science if a resource teacher will be provided for a school (details supplied) in County Cavan in which five children were assessed in 2003 as needing resource teaching; if this school will have a teacher by September 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13649/04]
View answerI can confirm that my Department received applications for special education resources, SER, from the school in question, including one 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.
