Vol. 573 No. 3
382 Ms M. Wallace asked the Minister for Education and Science the guidelines and advice that is issued to post primary schools with regard to meeting the special education needs of their pupils; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25370/03]
All second level schools have access to the national educational psychological service which provides support and guidance on the approaches to be adopted in catering for students with special educational needs. A standard application form is available to schools wishing to apply for support for students special needs. School authorities have been advised that all such applications must be supported by a professional assessment report on each student identifying the special needs involved and the nature and level of the support required.
Each application for special education services is considered on the basis of the professionally assessed needs of the individual student(s) involved and having regard to the resources already available to the school to address its students special needs.
The number of whole-time equivalent teacher posts being allocated to address special educational needs in the second level system for the current school year has been increased by approximately 300 over the 2002/03 level.
Question No. 383 answered with Question No. 292.
