Jack Wall
Question:151 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Education and Science his proposals to address the case of persons (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18031/04]
View answerWednesday, 16 June 2004
Questions (111)
Written answers
The schools to which the Deputy refers have agreed in principle to the reorganisation of both schools from 1 September 2004 and discussions on the matter are currently ongoing with the planning unit of my Department.
On the basis of this agreement in principle, both schools are being considered for staffing under the disadvantage initiatives for 2004-05.
A detailed review of all disadvantaged initiatives is currently nearing completion and will impact on existing initiatives. I hope to announce the outcome of this review shortly.
In relation to the third point of the details supplied, the Deputy is already aware that the school in question currently has the services of a full-time learning support post shared with another school. At present there are approximately 1,531 learning support teachers in the primary system.
My Department continues to review the existing arrangements for the allocation of special educational supports to primary schools. The basic purpose of the review is to ensure that each school has the level of resources required to cater for its pupils with special educational needs.
I am anxious to ensure that the support services are properly targeted at the children who require them and that the substantially increased resources which are being made available in the special educational area have the desired effect of ensuring that all children assessed as having special educational needs receive the support they require.
The Deputy is also aware that my Department is currently developing a weighted system of allocation of teaching support for schools to cater for pupils with special needs, including those requiring learning support teaching. The details of this system, as part of which an additional 350 teaching posts will be allocated, have been outlined to the Deputy in my response to Question No. 193 on 18 May 2004.