Sean Fleming
Question:531. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education to provide a response to correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57161/23]
View answerWednesday, 17 January 2024
Questions (531)
Written answers
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).
In 2023, my department spent over €2.6 billion on special education and further progress will be made this year as an additional €113m will be dedicated to providing supports for children with special educational needs.
This funding supports 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 2024, the number of teaching and SNA posts in our schools will increase with an additional 744 teachers and 1,216 SNAs added to deliver up to 2,700 new places for children with special educational needs. This will mean we will have over 41,500 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs.
Inclusive education is at the core of my department’s policy which requires differentiated teaching approaches to cater for the varying levels of ability in the classroom, from providing additional supports to those experiencing difficulty to ensuring appropriate levels of challenge and enrichment for exceptionally able students.
Schools at both primary and secondary level have been encouraged to use strategies such as curriculum differentiation, curriculum enrichment and acceleration to facilitate the development of pupils who are exceptionally able.
To support this work, the NCSE who has the responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs, host a number of seminars during the year to provide guidance to teachers to support gifted and talented students.
In addition, Oide, through their school support model provide bespoke supports to schools who have identified specific needs for gifted students and respond by facilitating collaborative conversations among staff as to how best to collectively support their students through a planned and coherent approach.
My department is committed to ensuring that all children including those who are exceptionally able or gifted are supported and nurtured to reach their full potential and has recently established a working group to develop policy for these students.
This working group is jointly chaired by my department's Special Education Section and Curriculum and Assessment Policy Unit.
The group has been tasked with, inter alia, the following:
• Scoping out existing supports for students with exceptional abilities
• Examining how other education systems provide for students with exceptional abilities
• Devising guidance for schools
• Reviewing draft guidelines for teachers on meeting the needs of students with exceptional abilities published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in 2007.
The steering group is currently in the process of commissioning a piece of research on current provisions and practices in other jurisdictions. It is expected that this research will be completed in the first quarter of 2024.
In addtion, my department's review of the Education of Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 will involve focus groups with a range of interest groups and students. High achieving students will be invited to engage based on consultation with the research facilitators in University College Dublin.
The purpose of the review is to ensure that legislation on education for students with special educational need is up-to-date, fully operational, and reflective of the lived experiences of students and families.
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.