Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 November 2023
336. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Education if she will review circular M02/95 to emphasise the duty of care a school has to accommodate their own pupils where there is a demonstrated justification for a child to repeat a year for educational, health, mental health or developmental reasons. [52901/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department is providing considerable resources to support pupils' progression in schools. Special Education Teachers and Special Needs Assistants, as well as a wide range of resources under the various schemes for schools in areas designated as disadvantaged, are among the forms of provision allocated to schools to support pupils. The level of provision available should enable pupils to make progress in keeping with their needs and abilities, and to move consecutively through the different class levels in the school along with their peers.
Department Circular M02/95 sets out the position for those students who wish to repeat a year at post-primary level. Schools have discretion to accept applications from students who wish to repeat a school year, in line with the terms defined in the circular. This includes consideration of the circumstances of the individual pupil in terms of prolonged absence from school for reasons of ill-health, or serious illness which has a seriously damaging effect on the pupil's academic performance at school, or serious family trauma which has had a seriously damaging effect on the pupil's academic performance, among other factors as set out in the circular.
In making such decisions, schools will also have to factor in local circumstances such as physical space, classroom layout and timetables, as well as numbers of such requests received by the school.
