Máirín Quill
Ceist:15 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Education the progress, if any, which has been made regarding the educational integration of children with learning disabilities in mainstream schools. [1759/97]
Written Answers. - School Placement.
Since taking office, I have made considerable progress in the integration of children with learning disabilities in mainstream schools, both through the development of policy and through the commitment of substantial additional resources to this area.
A fundamental principle outlined in the White Paper, Charting our Education Future, and encompassed in the Education Bill, 1997, is that all students, regardless of their personal circumstances, have a right of access to and participation in the education system, according to their potential and ability. Following their establishment, the education boards will co-ordinate educational provision for children with special needs in their regions.
The objective is to ensure, to the maximum possible extent, that all children with special educational needs will have access to suitably resourced education services in their own areas and within the ordinary school system. The degree to which integration can be achieved will depend on the specific and evolving capacities of each individual child.
In many cases, children with special needs can be catered for in the ordinary school setting with the help, if necessary, of remedial teachers, resource teachers or visiting teachers.
Since my appointment as Minister for Education, I have targeted substantial additional resources to all of these areas. During this period, I have appointed an additional 241 remedial teachers, bringing the total number of remedial teachers in the primary system to 1,188. This means that a remedial service is now available to 87 per cent of primary pupils. During the same period, I appointed an additional 39 resource teachers to primary schools, bringing the total number of such teachers to 46.
In November 1996, I appointed two additional visiting teachers for children with disabilities, bringing the total in this service to 40, and benefitting substantial numbers of children.
I have also substantially increased the range of grants available to ordinary schools for the purchase of special materials/equipment for children with disabilities from a total of £275,000 in 1992 to £470,000 in 1996, an increase of over 70 per cent.
I am satisfied that the measures which I have outlined provide practical confirmation of my commitment to the educational integration of children with learning disabilities in mainstream schools.