Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
942. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education the services that should be put in place by a primary school for a student who has a diagnosis of severe dyslexia and also dyspraxia; and the full in-class and home supports which should be put in place. [18470/21]
View answerThank you for your correspondence in relation to resources and supports available to pupils with dyslexia.
The Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools, which have enrolled pupils with special educational needs, including pupils with Specific Learning Disability (SLD); of which Dyslexia is one such SLD, in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, s/he will have access to an appropriate education.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is a separate statutory agency, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for the provision of special educational needs supports to schools. The NCSE operates within the Department's criteria in allocating such support
All Primary schools have been allocated additional teaching resources to cater for children with special educational needs, including pupils with dyslexia. In September 2017 the Department introduced a new model to support pupils with special educational needs in our schools. The new model differs significantly from the old Resource Allocation Model, in that Special Education Teacher allocation is now frontloaded into schools to support children with special educational needs. Rather than having to make individual application to the NCSE for additional supports schools can now respond to individual needs in a flexible way and pupils do not have to have a psychological assessment, or a diagnosis of a disability, in order to access Special Education Teaching. This means that those with highest level of need can access the highest level of support within the school in a timely manner.
Guidelines for schools on the organisation, deployment and use of their special education teachers have been published on the Department’s website, at http://www.education.ie/en/The-Education-System/Special-Education/Guidelines-for-Primary-Schools-Supporting-Pupils-with-Special-Educational-Needs-in-Mainstream-Schools.pdf Schools are supported in this regard by the National Educational Psychological Services.
