The report of the Special Education Review Committee made a number of recommendations concerning additional teaching resources in order to assist children with special needs who attend ordinary primary schools. These recommendations include the weighting of pupils according to category of disability in the context of support-teacher allocation. The recommended weighting ratios range from 0.75 pupil equivalents in the case of a pupil in need of remedial teaching to five pupil equivalents in the case of a profoundly deaf pupil.
Earlier this year, as part of my Department's ongoing response to the need for additional support teachers, I allocated a further ten resource teacher posts to the primary sector with effect from September 1995. This brings the total number of such posts in place to 36. This allocation is in addition to the 55 remedial teacher posts allocated for the 1995-96 school year. There are now 1,188 remedial teacher posts in the primary sector. In keeping with the Government's commitment for increased access to remedial education, I will continue to review needs in this area and consider how best these needs can be addressed within available resources.
The Special Education Review Committee also recommended that the capitation grant for children with special needs should be the same whether the pupils attend an ordinary primary school, a special class or a special school.
It is my intention to be as positive as possible in relation to its recommendations and to implement them as quickly as resources permit.
