Pauline Tully
Ceist:234. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Education the estimated additional cost of hiring a further 100 resource teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36990/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 8 July 2021
Ceisteanna (234)
Freagraí scríofa
I wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 007/2019 for primary schools and 008/2019 for post primary schools set out the details of the model for allocating special education teachers to schools.
The 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. This model has replaced the previous model of allocating resource teaching support and learning support to schools.
The Special Education Teacher allocation, allows schools to provide additional teaching support for all pupils who require such support in their schools and for schools to deploy resources based on each pupil’s individual learning needs.
It gives greater flexibility to schools as to how they can deploy their resources, to take account of the actual learning needs pupils have, as opposed to being guided by a particular diagnosis of disability, and schools are guided as to how they should make such allocation decisions.
There are currently 13,623 Special Education Teachers allocated to mainstream primary and post primary schools, at a cost of approximately €817 Million per annum, for a full year cost.
This allocation represents an increase of 40% in the total number of special education teachers allocated to schools since 2011, at which time 9740 teachers were allocated.
The additional cost of providing for an additional 100 Special Education Teachers would be approximately €6 Million per annum, based on a full year costs.