Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 July 2016
185. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on proposals that two special needs assistants, for example, can adequately tend to the acute care needs of six children simultaneously (details supplied). [23360/16]
View answerThe Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support is provided in order to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or for their peers, and with a view to developing their independent living skills.
Circular 0030/2014 was introduced following a Value for Money Review of the SNA Scheme, which restates and clarifies the criteria for the allocation of SNA support to schools, for both schools and parents. The review found that the purpose of the scheme and the allocation process was generally not well understood within schools or by parents. It found that the deployment of SNAs in schools had in practice moved away from the objectives originally envisaged, which was to provide for children's care needs, and had moved towards SNA involvement in behavioural, therapeutic, pedagogical/teaching and administrative duties.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support to schools, in accordance with the criteria set out in Circular 0030/2014.
The NCSE allocates SNAs to schools in order that students who have care needs can access SNA support as and when it is needed. In making allocations to schools, the NCSE will take into account the assessed individual needs of all children with identified needs in the school.
The majority of children who have care needs require attention and assistance at certain times of the school day and require intermittent intervention at particular points. The NCSE will take this into account when making allocations.
All schools were asked to submit applications for SNA support for the 2016/17 school year to the NCSE by 29th February this year. The NCSE continues to accept applications in recognition that enrolments may not have been completed or where assessments were not completed. The NCSE will consider these applications and make further allocations to schools in respect of valid applications which have been received to September.
I recently announced the provision of an additional 860 SNA posts for the coming school year, bringing to 12,900, the total number of SNAs available for allocation to schools, which is an increase of almost 22% in the number of posts available since 2011, which was 10,575 posts.
The NCSE advised all schools of their allocations for SNA support for the coming 2016/17 school year, on 14th June, 2016, based on the number of valid applications received to date.
Details of all of the allocations which have been made to schools for SNA support, on a per county and per school basis, have been published on www.ncse.ie.
It should be noted that SNA support allocated to a school by the NCSE can change from year to year as students who had access to SNA support leave the school, as new students with care needs enrol and as students develop more independent living skills and their care needs diminish over time.
Where a school wishes to appeal the SNA allocation which has been made to them, they may do so through the NCSE appeal process, details of which are set out at www.ncse.ie. The option to invoke the NCSE appeals process is open to the school/parent in question, but to date no appeal has been received by the NCSE.
All schools have the contact details of their local SENO, while Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available the NCSE website.
