Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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477. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans in place to expand reading schools across the country for children with severe dyslexia; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36316/20]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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There are no plans to expand Reading Schools at this time.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is currently undertaking Policy Advice on Education Provision in Special Classes and Special Schools to examine whether placement in specialist settings brings about improved educational outcomes and experiences, relative to their ability, for students with special educational needs.

This Policy Advice is to be completed and a report submitted by NCSE in December 2020. It will then be considered by my Department.

A progress report was published in November 2019 by the NCSE. This summarises NCSE’s progress to date, emerging findings and steps to complete the advice.  

In terms of current provision, my Department is committed to supporting every child with special educational needs to receive an education.  We will spend approximately €2 Billion, or over 20% of the total educational budget annually, on making additional provision for children with special educational needs next year. This represents an increase of over 50% in total expenditure since 2011.

This investment will allow us to provide over 1,200 extra special class places next year. 

There are currently over 13,550 Special Education Teachers allocated to mainstream schools, supporting the additional learning needs of pupils, of which 9,325 are allocated to primary schools. This represents an increase of 40% in the provision for Special Education Teachers since 2011.

An additional 145 Special Education Teachers will also be available for allocation next year.

The number of SNAs in the school system has increased by almost 60% since 2011. Approximately 1,000 additional SNAs will also be allocated to schools next year, bringing the total number to 18,000.