John Brady
Ceist:431. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to provide ASD units to secondary schools and feeder schools in Bray, County Wicklow. [17354/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 21 July 2020
Ceisteanna (431)
Freagraí scríofa
Ensuring that every child has a suitable school placement is a key objective of my Department. Significant resources are allocated each year to ensure that appropriate supports are available for children with special educational needs.
A list of special classes for the current school year, including special classes for children with autism, is available on the National Council for Special Education's (NCSE) website.
Since 2011, the number of special classes in mainstream schools has increased almost threefold, from 548 to 1,618 for the 2019/2020 school year, with 1,353 of these catering for children with autism.
Budget 2020 provided for an additional 265 special class teachers in 2020, which will allow for the opening of additional classes where required.
The NCSE has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide; has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents; and seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special class placements.
The NCSE is planning a further expansion of special class and school places nationally to meet identified need for next year. This process is ongoing.
It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, is made available to the school. My Department works closely with the NCSE in this regard.
Wicklow has 54 primary special classes and 14 post primary special classes. This includes 6 new special classes (5 primary and 1 post primary) established for 2020/21 all of which currently have vacancies.
Bray has 9 primary schools, 4 of which have special classes including 3 special classes for children with autism. Bray has 7 post primary schools of which 2 have a special class for children with autism. Bray also has 2 special schools: Marino Special School, which caters for students with Physical Disabilities and Autism, and Newcourt Special School, which caters for students with Multiple Disability and Autism.
Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) throughout the country engage with schools on an ongoing basis in regard to the establishment of new special classes to meet the identified need for special classes in particular areas and will continue to engage with schools in Bray and Wicklow generally to respond to any increases in demand for special classes in the area.