Budget 2015 included an increase in spending on education for the first time in recent years, amounting to additional funding of €60m during 2015.
This funding will be used to provide 1,700 additional teachers and SNAs for our schools, as well as to fund prioritised reforms, such as implementation of the literacy and numeracy strategy, reform of junior cycle, and the introduction of education focused preschool inspections.
With regard to Resource Teachers for Travellers, the principle of inclusion is at the core of the Report and Recommendations for a Traveller Education Strategy published in 2006 and, accordingly, the focus of both current and future provision is on the development of a more inclusive school environment. In keeping with this principle, additional resources provided in the education system are allocated on the basis of identified individual educational need rather than that of ethnic or cultural background.
Following decisions of the last Government, as part of the December 2010 budgetary process, Traveller pupils who are eligible for learning support teaching now receive this tuition through the existing learning support provision in schools. This is in keeping with the policy of inclusion and the 2006 report.
The General Allocation Model, which provides additional learning support and English as an additional language allocations for primary schools, was updated for all primary schools from the 2012/13 school year and now includes the Traveller pupils who had previously been supported by Resource Teacher for Traveller (RTT) posts.
Limited alleviation measures were put in place to assist schools who had high concentrations of Traveller pupils previously supported by Resource Teacher for Traveller posts/hours, in the context of the limited resources available.
A total of 141 posts have been allocated to schools for this purpose. 81 posts were also provided to readjust Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) allocations to include Traveller pupils previously supported by Resource Teacher for Traveller posts.
38 alleviation posts were provided for schools that had high numbers or concentrations of Traveller pupils who were previously supported by RTT posts and a further 22 alleviation posts were allocated to schools who had the highest percentage of traveller pupils previously supported by RTT posts, in comparison to other schools, taking into account their overall pupil populations, and who had not qualified for the first round of alleviation posts.
This Government has been resolutely committed to protecting, and where possible, increasing, the level of investment being made to support children with special educational needs at a time when there has been a requirement to make expenditure reductions across a range of areas. It is an area of spending which has been prioritised above most other areas by this Government, despite the enormous pressures on all areas of public spending.
Some €1.37 billion will be spent in support of children with Special Educational Needs this year, which represents approximately 15% of my Department's budget.
365 new Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts and 480 resource teaching posts have been provided to support children with special educational needs in schools in 2015, bringing the total number of SNAs available for allocation in 2015 to 11,330 posts and the total number of resource teaching posts to 6,705. Over 11,000 resource and learning support teaching posts are now available. This is the highest level of SNA and resource teaching allocations that we have ever had, and will ensure that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate to their needs.
With regard to the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act, a number of sections have been commenced, including those establishing the National Council for Special Education and those promoting an inclusive approach to education of children.
The NCSE report on 'Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs in Schools' which was published in 2013 and is available on the NCSE website www.ncse.ie, recommends that the EPSEN Act be fully implemented as soon as possible. The report also states that the NCSE recognises that the current economic climate makes it unlikely that the Government will be able to implement this recommendation in the short to medium term.
It is intended to bring into effect many of the good ideas contained in the EPSEN Act, on a non-statutory basis initially, through policy developments across a range of areas, in conjunction with NCSE policy advice.
This includes the National Council for Special Education's (NCSE) Report on a Proposed New Model for Allocating Teachers for Students with Special Educational Needs, published on 18th June 2014.
The report recommends that a new allocation model should be developed, based on a schools educational profile, while providing a baseline allocation to every mainstream school to support inclusion.
I hope to make an announcement in relation to this matter shortly, in order to give clarity to schools regarding the allocation process for the coming school year.
