Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 July 2018
237. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he expects to be in a position to continue to ensure the availability of adequate special needs teaching places in all primary and secondary schools in County Kildare and throughout the country in the short to medium term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29692/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraDES Circulars 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools set out details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.
The revised allocation process replaces the previous generalised allocation processes combined with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocation process which provided additional resource teaching supports to schools, to support pupils assessed as having Low Incidence disabilities.
The new Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile.
It ensures that all school receive an allocation for special education teaching resources based on the schools profile.
An additional 900 teaching posts have been provided to support the introduction of this new allocation model. The provision of an additional 900 teaching posts is a very significant investment in the provision of additional teaching support for pupils with special educational needs in our schools.
The additional funding provided additional supports to over 1300 schools who identified as needing additional supports as a result of the new model, while ensuring that no school received a reduced allocation.
The Government is committed to helping every child, particularly those with special educational needs, to fulfil their potential.
In 2018, my Department will invest over €1.78 billion in this area - 1/5 of my Department's budget and up 42% since 2011, at which point €1.24 billion was invested. This increased investment has allowed the Government to increase the number of:
- SNAs by 42%, from 10,575 in 2011 to 15,000 by the end of 2018.
- Special classes by 138% to over 1,300 at present, compared to 548 special classes in 2011.
- Special education teachers by 38% from 9,630 in 2011 to over 13,300 at present in 2018.
This level of commitment and provision, particularly in relation to the provision of additional special education teachers, will ensure that adequate special needs teaching resources can continue to be provided for all primary and secondary schools, including those in County Kildare, at present and in future.
