Sorca Clarke
Question:670. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the number of SNA posts recruited for and filled to the end of the school year in 2023. [38406/23]
View answerMonday, 11 September 2023
Questions (670)
Written answers
I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion, for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.
For 2023, the spend by my department on special education has been substantially increased by over 10% on last year, meaning that for 2023 my department will spend over €2.6 billion on special education.
This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the department’s total allocation for 2023.
This includes funding to support children with special educational needs in mainstream classes; funding for new special classes and new special school places; additional special educational teachers, special needs assistants (SNAs) and funding for the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS).
In 2023, the number of teaching and SNA posts in our schools will increase by 686 and 1,194 respectively.
For the first time ever there will be over 19,000 teachers working in the area of special education and over 20,000 SNAs. Together we have almost 40,000 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs.
SNAs play a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs into mainstream education, special classes and special schools ensuring that these students can access education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.
The NCSE has the responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The department does not have a role in making individual school determinations.
SNAs are allocated to schools as a school based resource and not to individual children. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual principal/Board of Management of the school. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. This allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.
The NCSE have confirmed that at the end of the 2022/23 school year 19,481 SNA posts were allocated to special classes, mainstream and special schools. The majority of the additional 1,194 SNAs provided for in Budget 2023 will be allocated to schools opening new special classes and special schools with increasing enrolments for the new 2023/2024 school.
The NCSE publish statistics on SNA allocations for each school year, by county, in tabular form on their website. These details can be found at: www.ncse.ie/set-hours-and-sna-allocations
When a school has been allocated an SNA, the Board of Management as the employer, is responsible for filling the vacancy. The decision on whether to employ a full-time SNA to fill a full-time post, or to employ an equivalent number of part-time SNAs rests with the employer.
My department acts as paymaster to over 3,700 schools whose Boards of Management are the direct employers of SNAs. SNAs employed within the Education and Training Board (ETB) sector are paid by the respective ETB.
Therefore the information requested in relation to the numbers of SNAs recruited and employed is not to hand.
My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential. Schools should liaise with the NCSE directly in the event that additional supports are required.