I assure teachers and parents that the basic purposes of circular 24/03 are to ensure that applications for resource teacher and special needs assistant support are processed as efficiently as possible and to ensure that such resources are targeted to best effect on an ongoing basis.
Priority has been given to the 780 applications in respect of new entrant children. Following a review of the supporting documentation submitted, the applicant schools have been given allocations where appropriate. The allocations have been given on a temporary basis initially, pending an examination in due course of the level of resources already made available to the schools. The remaining 4,700 applications will be processed by a dedicated team of inspectors and psychologists. Every effort will be made to issue a response as early as possible during the current school year. A census of pupils in primary schools with special educational needs and associated resources is being conducted. The data will enable the team to consider the applications in the context of the existing level of resources available to each school.
Significant additional resources have been allocated to schools since 1999 when an automatic response to support pupils with special educational needs was introduced. Over 2,300 resource teachers and almost 5,500 full and part-time special needs assistants have been employed. The number of learning support teachers now stands at 1,531, which means that a learning support service can be accessed by every primary school pupil in the country. I am determined to ensure that this considerable investment is deployed as effectively and flexibly as possible.
The circular highlights a number of practical strategies with that aim in mind, geared at assisting schools with existing resource allocations. If possible, schools should provide additional help for pupils with special educational needs in the mainstream classroom or, if necessary, in small groups. Schools are encouraged to develop strategies that draw on the skills of all such teachers without making artificial distinctions between them, bearing in mind the various categories of special education teachers deployed in the education system, including resource, learning support and visiting teachers. While resource teacher allocations have been approved on the basis of individual applications, the overriding principle is that resources should be deployed in the manner that best meets the needs of pupils with special educational needs. Before applying for additional special needs assistants, schools should review their existing allocations to see whether an identified need can be met by redeploying available resources. Where appropriate, principals may deploy individual special needs assistants to support several pupils, perhaps in more than one classroom.
I emphasise that circular 24/03 does not propose a cut in resources for pupils with special educational needs. Schools will appreciate that the level of approved resources is not immutable, however, as account must be taken of the progress of individual pupils with special educational needs and of the departure from the school of such pupils. It is expected that schools will notify the Department of instances where resources have become surplus to requirements so they can be redeployed as necessary. The purpose of circular 24/03 is to provide clarity regarding special needs resource allocation. It also encourages schools to deploy resources in a flexible manner.