Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2022
473. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Education when the allocation for special needs assistants for the school period 2022-2023 will be made for a school (details supplied) in view of their enrolment of a special needs pupil for September 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24858/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe number of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) in our schools is at unprecedented levels.
Budget 2022 provides for an additional 1,165 SNAs to provide support to children with special educational needs. This will bring the total number of SNAs to 19,169 by the end of 2022. This represents an increase of 81% in SNA numbers since 2011 when 10,575 SNAs were working in our schools.
The availability of SNAs is critical to the inclusion of students with significant care needs in education and in school life.
SNAs carry out very important care functions for children with care needs in the school. The purpose of their role is to enable children with significant care needs to attend school and participate in school activities to the maximum possible extent.
The purpose of the SNAs in the classroom is to address the immediate physical care needs of the student and encourage their independence. Over time, with their assistance and support, students will become more independent and self-autonomous in these matters.
SNAs are whole school resources to be allocated to meet the needs of those students in greatest need.
A key consideration in the allocation of SNAs is to ensure that those students with the greatest level of care needs receive the most support. This is a key principle underlying Department policy on special education. The allocation system must be objective and fair with the capacity to take account of local and individual circumstances. A core recommendation of the NCSE's Review of the SNA scheme (2018) concerned a change in the way that SNAs are allocated to mainstream classes in both primary and post primary schools. It also called for the greater proportion of SNAs in these classes to be allocated on the basis of a profile of each school before the commencement of the school year in a similar manner to the allocation of SETs.
Work is ongoing in terms of the SNA allocation for the school year 2022/2023. Department officials will engage with the education partners and it is intended that information on the SNA allocation will issue to schools shortly.
Many students with SEN enrolled in mainstream classes do not have significant care needs and are supported through the Special Education Teacher (SET) allocation in line with their need.
In mid-April Department officials issued updated staffing allocations for the 2022/23 school year to include SET allocations. This ensured that schools were aware of their teaching resources and this allowed them to make the necessary arrangements to ensure that the teaching and learning needs for pupils with SEN can be properly supported. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has also provided guidance and support to schools to assist them in ensuring that the resources being provided are best managed to meet the needs of pupils with SEN. The support includes training and advice from special education professionals within the NCSE as part of the NCSE regional support teams.
The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) are also available to support schools and teachers in providing a Continuum of Support to their students with SEN.
