Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
223. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education whether consideration has been given to the differing staffing needs of special schools, particularly regarding administrative deputy principals, resourcing for high and low-incidence needs and extra funding for additional CPD and health and safety training. [44001/23]
View answerI 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 with an additional 686 teachers and a further 1,194 SNAs.
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.
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.
While the additional funding being made available to provide more special education teachers, SNAs, NCSE supports and NEPs supports in our schools is significant, it is accepted that there are a range of additional challenges facing our special schools.
In terms of additional support, special schools receive significant funding and have been resourced to reflect their particular needs. My department does however recognise that there are additional challenges which arise for special schools including the importance attached to establishing and fostering positive links between the home, school and other agencies.
My department is actively engaging with the representative body for boards of management in special schools the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education (NABMSE) to address some of these additional challenges. During November and December 2022, NABMSE facilitated a series of meetings nationwide with special schools. This engagement has focused in on a number of issues including:
a. The challenges attached to the designation of special schools as primary schools (the vast majority of special schools enroll students from 4 through to 18) and how this could be addressed.
b. The resources necessary for special schools to support their students and
c. How best to ensure that all children who require it have access to a summer programme.
My department has collated all of the feedback from these meetings and continues to engage with NABMSE on the priority areas to be progressed.
Some of the key issues emerging include;
- The continuum of teacher education – how it prepares and supports teachers in these settings
- Curricular challenges and the need for career guidance, vocational pathways and post-school options
- Access to therapeutic, behaviour and mental health supports
- Ensuring equity of provision with peers in mainstream schools
- The need to review patronage and governance structures
- The need for additional resources ranging from physical infrastructure to staffing and day-to-day funding with efficient and transparent review mechanisms in place
- Remuneration for leadership roles commensurate with the number and range of staff employed in the school and the additional administrative burden in special schools
- Teacher supply issues, additional flexibility on qualifications for these settings and enhanced substitution cover.
My department is committed to progressing these issues from both administrative and budgetary perspectives in order to deliver 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.
