Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 June 2004
106 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason a person (details supplied) in County Offaly has only been sanctioned two and a half hours resource teaching and no special needs assistant; when the required assistance will be given to this person; the reason it has not been sanctioned to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18143/04]
View answerI can confirm that my Department received an application for special educational resources for the pupil referred to by the Deputy. The pupil in question is in receipt of 2.5 hours resource teaching support per week.
Applications for special educational resources received between 15 February and 31 August 2003 are being considered. 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 special educational resources provision conducted over the past year and the data submitted by schools as part of a nationwide census of special educational resources 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 recently announced new weighted system of allocation. This system, as part of which an additional 350 teaching posts will be allocated, will involve making a staffing allocation to schools based on a predicted incidence of pupils with special educational needs. It will also involve 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.
Transitional arrangements for the introduction of the weighted system are being developed at present in consultation with representative interests. As soon as those consultations have been completed, the detailed arrangements for processing applications for resources, including those for special needs assistants and those received after 31 August last, including the one for the pupil in question, will be set out in a circular to be issued to schools shortly.
107 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science the way in which he has prioritised the backlog of applications for resource teaching and special needs assistance in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18144/04]
View answerApplications for special educational resources received between 15 February and 31 August 2003 are being considered. 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 special educational resources provision conducted over the past year and the data submitted by schools as part of a nationwide census of special educational resources 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 recently announced new weighted system of allocation. This system, as part of which an additional 350 teaching posts will be allocated, will involve making a staffing allocation to schools based on a predicted incidence of pupils with special educational needs. It will also involve 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.
Transitional arrangements for the introduction of the weighted system are being developed at present in consultation with representative interests. As soon as those consultations have been completed, 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 shortly.
108 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Education and Science the position of a special needs assistant application for a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18156/04]
View answerI can confirm that my Department received an application for special needs assistant and resource teaching support for the pupil referred to by the Deputy in September 2003.
Applications for special educational resources received between 15 February and 31 August 2003 are being considered. 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 special educational resources provision conducted over the past year and the data submitted by schools as part of a nationwide census of special educational resources 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 recently announced new weighted system of allocation. This system, as part of which an additional 350 teaching posts will be allocated, will involve making a staffing allocation to schools based on a predicted incidence of pupils with special educational needs. It will also involve 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.
Transitional arrangements for the introduction of the weighted system are being developed at present in consultation with representative interests. As soon as those consultations have been completed, the detailed arrangements for processing applications for resources, including those for special needs assistants and those received after 31 August last, including the one for the pupil in question, will be set out in a circular to be issued to schools shortly.
