Special Educational Needs

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 June 2022

Wednesday, 29 June 2022

Ceisteanna (92, 101, 102, 103)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Ceist:

92. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Education the number of deaf and hard of hearing children in each year in mainstream classes in primary and secondary schools. [34710/22]

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Ceist:

101. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Education the number of deaf and hard of hearing young people who sat the leaving certificate examination in each of the past five years. [34849/22]

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Ceist:

102. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Education the number of deaf and hard of hearing children in second, fourth and sixth class who completed STen tests in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. [34850/22]

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Ceist:

103. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Education the average results achieved by deaf and hard of hearing children in second, fourth and sixth class in STen tests in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. [34851/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education

I propose to take Questions Nos. 92 and 101 to 103, inclusive, together.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.   

This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing a wide range of schemes and supports for children with special educational needs.

This includes additional teaching and care supports.

As a result, the number of special education teachers, special needs assistants and special class and school places are at unprecedented levels. 

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide.

Please see below data for pupils enrolled in deaf schools. We have supplied data for academic years 2010-2011 to 2020-2021, the last year we have final enrolment data. We expect to publish the final enrolment data for 2021-2022 by the end of June 2022.

Academic Year (Enrolment)	Roll Number	Official Name	Enrolment per Return
2011	16864B	ST JOSEPHS SPECIAL SCH	53
2012	16864B	ST JOSEPHS SPECIAL SCH	53
2013	16864B	ST JOSEPHS SPECIAL SCH	54
2014	16864B	ST JOSEPHS SPECIAL SCH	54
2015	16864B	ST JOSEPHS SPECIAL SCH	56
2011	17944E	ST MARYS SCHOOL FOR DEAF GIRLS	72
2012	17944E	ST MARYS SCHOOL FOR DEAF GIRLS	59
2013	17944E	ST MARYS SCHOOL FOR DEAF GIRLS	59
2014	17944E	ST MARYS SCHOOL FOR DEAF GIRLS	59
2015	17944E	ST MARYS SCHOOL FOR DEAF GIRLS	62
2016	20495S	Holy Family School for the Deaf	124
2017	20495S	Holy Family School for the Deaf	125
2018	20495S	Holy Family School for the Deaf	130
2019	20495S	Holy Family School for the Deaf	140
2020	20495S	Holy Family School for the Deaf	139
2016	19719H	MID WEST SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	27
2017	19719H	MID WEST SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	25
2018	19719H	MID WEST SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	29
2019	19719H	MID WEST SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	35
2020	19719H	MID WEST SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	35

Note: Figures are for those pupils enrolled in a school as per the Annual School Census date for the years provided.   From 2011-2015 the data comes from the National School Annual Census and from the Primary Online Database (POD), 2016-2020.   Academic year 2020-2021 is the last year we have final enrolment figures for.   Roll numbers 16864B & 17944E were amalgamated to form Holy Family School for the Deaf, 20495s, beginning academic year 2016-2017.

The National Council for Special Education have provided us with the following figures for pupils supported by Visiting Teachers for deaf and hard of hearing children. In 2021 this included:

- Babies/pre-school/other: 658

- Primary School: 2,405

- Post Primary School: 1,721

- Special School: 607

- Total: 5,391

My Department do not have the number of Deaf and Hard of Hearing children in 2nd, 4th and 6th class who completed standardised testing and the Department does not release the results of standardised testing. Standardised testing results are provided to the Department in aggregate format.

The results of standardised testing can help schools to evaluate progress in literacy and numeracy, help to pinpoint areas for improvement and will support teachers in ensuring that literacy and numeracy learning experiences meet pupils’ needs. Results of any one standardised test should not be used in isolation, nor used as baseline data for predicting future achievements, nor for solely informing decisions regarding the provision of interventions or targets within learning plans for pupils. Information from ability tests, teacher observations, parental reports, as well as the views of the pupils are also very important aspects of a thorough assessment.

With regards to the number of deaf and hard of hearing young people who sat the Leaving Certificate in each of the last 5 years, this information is not readily available at this time. However, I have requested the information from the State Examinations Commission and this information will be forwarded to you separately.