Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 May 2004
122 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the position regarding a person (details supplied) in County Kildare with regard to a teaching post through Kildare VEC; if a suitable teaching position will be offered to them in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16029/04]
View answerThe appointment of teachers by vocational education committees is a matter for the relevant VEC, subject to agreed procedures. As my Department has no role in the appointment of individual teachers in the VEC, it would not be appropriate for me or my Department to intervene in any such case.
123 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Education and Science the details of the agreement reached between his Department and the Irish National Teachers Organisation on the deployment of the promised further 350 resource teachers; if special education staffing in primary schools is to be maintained and no further teachers will be placed on redeployment panels this school year other than those already notified; if the outstanding applications will be processed as a matter of urgency and decisions will issue as soon as possible; if there will be a weighted model of delivery which will take account of gender and disadvantage and will give flexibility to small schools; if there will be full implementation of this model by September 2005; if in the interim new appointments will be considered on the basis of the weighted model and specific cases; if the 350 new teachers will be allocated to meet special needs as soon as possible on the basis of a weighted model; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16036/04]
View answerThe transitional arrangements for the introduction of a new weighted model of allocation and the deployment of the additional 350 teaching posts that I announced recently are currently being finalised and my officials are continuing to liaise with representative interests in this context. All schools will be notified of the deployment arrangements as soon as this process has been completed. It is my intention that the weighted model will be introduced in schools by September 2004.
My Department has no plans to place additional teachers on redeployment panels during the current school year as a result of the introduction of the new weighted model.
The position regarding applications for special education resources is as follows. SER applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003 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. 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 nation-wide 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 the new weighted system of allocation. This system 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; 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. As soon as the consultations with the representative interests have been completed, the detailed arrangements for processing applications for resources, including 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 intended, also, that applicant schools will be notified of the outcome in their case within this time frame.
