Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to set out the importance of the special education teacher allocation in supporting children with special educational needs in mainstream schools.

At the outset, it is very important to state that there will be more special education teachers in our schools in September 2024 than ever before - an increase of 1,000 from the 2020-21 school year. This is in addition to a significant reduction in class sizes at primary level over three budgets to the point where the pupil-teacher ratio at that level is now 23:1. This means, more than ever, children with special educational needs in mainstream schools are best supported to meet their needs. In addition, the model will now be run annually in line with general teacher allocations. This allows schools to better plan their staffing structures and gives them time to arrange clusters in areas where schools share a special education teacher.

I would like to clarify that the special education teaching model is an allocation model to provide schools with additional teaching hours to support the teaching needs of their students. When the 2017 model was introduced, it replaced a diagnosis-led model with one based on need. That has not changed for 2024 and the allocation to schools is to support all of the children in school who require some level of additional teaching support.

There has been a limited change to the method used to allocate special education teachers to mainstream classes. The Department of Education commenced a review of the model in late 2022 to ensure that it was meeting the changing needs in special education. This review involved extensive consultation and visits to schools by the National Council for Special Education to look at the strengths and shortcomings of the allocation model. The feedback has been incorporated into the revised model for 2024-25. The allocation model for 2024-25 distributes the total available number of special education teaching posts in line with each school's profile of need. The model makes an allocation on the basis of a number of inputs, including enrolment numbers. It also uses school-level data from standardised tests in order to reflect levels of overall need and complex need within a school. It seeks to distribute teaching resources in the fairest possible manner, taking into account quality, robust evidence in respect of individual schools.

This ensures that resources are in the right place at the right time to meet the needs of children in mainstream schools. The model is now utilising data provided to the Department of Education by individual schools to ensure that resources are in the right place at the right time. The revised model is providing an annual allocation of special education teaching hours, using the best possible available data sources, and is ensuring that the right resource is available to children with special educational needs. Schools have autonomy to deploy those resources to meet the needs of their students.

The Department acknowledges that every school is different and that schools can experience unique circumstances that may be difficult to reflect in any standardised method. This is always a challenge when making allocations to 4,000 schools. It is for this reason that the Department, working with the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has streamlined the review process for special education teaching hours. Schools that have any concerns can engage with the NCSE in respect of their allocations. Reviews are being conducted by the NCSE between March and May to better enable schools to plan for September. Additional resources will be provided to schools in cases where the NCSE has identified that this is required.

The NCSE has responsibility for planning and co-ordinating school supports for children with special educational needs. It has advised that it has reviewed and streamlined the special education teacher, SET, review process following feedback from schools and our education partners. That new review process was introduced for the SET allocation for the 2024-25 school year. A school can request a review of its allocation through the NCSE portal in March 2024. The NCSE also has committed to completing these reviews in the period between March and May of this year, and they will be prioritised.

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