Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 October 2021
64. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the progress made under the Fund for Students with Disabilities and other supports aimed at supporting students with disabilities to access and engage with further and higher education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49827/21]
View answerThe purpose of the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) is to assist further and higher education institutions in ensuring students with disabilities have the necessary assistance and equipment to enable them access, fully participate in and successfully complete their chosen course of study. The FSD is one of the main funding sources supporting participation by students with disabilities in approved further and higher education courses in Ireland. It also supports students from Ireland to study on approved courses in EU countries and in the UK, including Northern Ireland.
Higher education institutions (HEIs) receive block grant funding in respect of FSD for a full calendar year (the allocation is based on the Resource Allocation Return (RAR) for the previous academic year). It is a matter for disability support sta? in HEIs to complete a needs assessment in respect of each student. On completion of the needs assessment, disability support sta? determine the appropriate supports required by students and FSD funding may be used to provide these supports provided that they are consistent with the categories of eligible expenditure listed above.
HEIs must operate within the FSD budget that they are allocated on a calendar year basis and the HEA will not provide additional funding to a HEI if it exceeds its allocation. A contingency fund to provide additional support to HEIs which experience significant year-on-year increases in applications for support, in particular from high needs students, has also been established.
In the Irish higher education sector, the number of students eligible for supports funded under the FSD has increased from just over 10,097 in 2016/17 to 14,358 in 2019/20. Since 2018, and included in the overall figure, part-time students have been eligible for support under the FSD – 463 part-time students were supported in 2019/20. 987 postgraduate students were supported in 2019/20. In the case of the further education sector, the number of students has increased from 1,614 to 1,966.
The current National Access Plan set targets for participation in higher education by people with disabilities. In the case of the FSD, targets were set for three specific groups. These targets were already exceeded by 2019 and the numbers of students in these groups has continued to increase.
New targets were set for 2021 following the progress review in 2018 which extended the current National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2019 by 2 year to 2021. The revisedtarget for the number of students with a physical/mobility disability was 767. Based on 2019/20 data this figure currently stands at 867. For students who are deaf or hard of hearing the revised target was set at 352 and the 2019/20 data reflects a figure of 364, and finally for students who are blind or have a visual impairment the target was 200 and based on 2019/20 data this currently stands at 234, an increase 34.
In addition, the number of students with disabilities as a percentage of new entrants in higher education has increased and was 12.2% in 2019/20, thus exceeding the National Access Plan target of 12%.
This current Plan will expire at the end of the 2021. This Department along with the HEA are currently working on implementing the next Plan which will span 5 years from 2022 – 2026. It is hoped to publish the new Plan at the end of 2021 or early 2022.
For 2020 the HEA allocated €7.085m to the higher education sector. HEIs’ expenditure returns (submitted in Q1 2021) indicated overall expenditure of €6.666m.
In 2019/20 academic year a total of 14,358 students in higher education institutions received supports eligible for funding under the FSD. This represents an increase of 8.7% compared to the previous year. 987 of these were postgraduate students and 463 were part-time.
In January 2021 I announced approval for strategic initiatives aimed at supporting students with disabilities. The funding for the projects comes from historical underspends in the Fund for Students with Disabilities. The initiatives, which now encompass 24 HEIs and €5.4m in expenditure, are broad and are aimed at improving access to higher education for people with a disability, to improving college campuses and to assist staff with training and development. The following examples outline the projects that are being implemented by HEIs using the fund which include
Sensory Spaces: A number of projects focus on establishing autism friendly spaces. Nine HEIs are designing spaces of respite for students with sensory needs to avoid overstimulation and also for the general student population to have a quiet space to retreat to. These spaces will include advanced technology and equipment such as sensory pods and modules, low lights, sensory projectors and music software etc. This will have a huge impact for students with autism and will create a much more inclusive campus environment.
- Development of Assistive Technology (AT). A number of HEIs are also using the fund to develop assistive technology for students with disabilities. This includes allocating and developing specific rooms for the use of AT hardware. HEIs are also introducing AT software (JAWS, TextHelp, Read&Write, ZoomText etc.) and AT hardware (height adjustable desk, fixed computers with AT software, large screen monitors etc.) into campus meeting spaces.
- Wayfinding Apps. HEIs are designing Wayfinding apps to help students with disabilities navigate their way around campus. These apps can be used by students with physical disabilities to find accessible routes around campus, they can act as a guide for visually impaired students, and students with ASD, anxiety and mental health issues can use a wayfinding app to locate their closest sensory space or quiet zone.
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL). HEIs are using the underspend to fund projects that are specifically aimed at promoting UDL within their institution. These projects include the creation of an online module and guidelines for teachers which will ensure students with disabilities can participate equally, the development of HEI UDL strategies focused on fostering the development of academic teaching and professional staff practices to align with the principles of UDL, and the introduction of Universal Design champions and specialists into HEIs.
- Accessibility Audits and Improvements. A number of HEIs are also using the fund to make minor but important accessibility improvements to campus. These include wheelchair accessible doors and bathrooms, accessible lab benches, and carrying out accessibility audits to evaluate current campus accessibility and improvements that need to be made in the future.
- Mental Health Support and Resources. HEIs are also using the fund to the provide additional mental health supports and resources to students. These include online counselling support, the recruitment of mental health and wellbeing coordinators, and building on existing one-to-one and small group supports.
While the FSD provides disability supports in both higher education and further education and training (FET), up until last year the HEA administered the entire Fund. However, it should be noted that €1.9m of the Fund transferred to SOLAS in 2020 to assist with disability supports in the FET sector, and SOLAS will continue to manage the FET element of the FSD going forward. Supports in the FET sector available through the FSD include academic/learning support, assistive technology equipment & software, hearing impaired supports, examination supports, non-medical helpers and transport supports for learners with a disability.
