Ms Teresa Griffin:

I thank the committee for the invitation to attend. I want to introduce my colleague, Ms Madeline Hickey, who is the director of the special education support service, SESS, which is one of the three support services currently transitioning to the NCSE. They have transferred over from the Department since March, so we are having a very interesting time trying to develop a new support structure. I assure the committee that we wish to be as helpful as we possibly can to assist it with its work in examining the adequacy of training and supports available to providers of special needs education. Support for special education is, as I think we all know, a key Government priority. Some €1.7 billion, which is over 17% of the total Department of Education and Skills budget, is spent on supporting special education.

All students with special educational needs are taught primarily by the class or subject teachers. This additional funding provides for 13,000 additional teachers to be allocated specifically to give extra support to students with additional learning and special needs. That is in mainstream schools. There are reduced pupil-teacher ratios in special schools. There is one special education teacher for every five class or subject teachers. The funding also provides for 13,000 special needs assistant posts, assistive technology, specialist equipment, special school transport arrangements and so on.

I know that the committee has already seen the written submission, so the purpose of my opening statement is to focus on teacher education, because research is clear that the quality of teachers and their teaching are the most important factors in determining student outcomes. This is especially important for students with special educational needs.

One of the strengths of the education system at the moment is that all teachers are required to be fully qualified and registered with the Teaching Council. However, initial teacher education on its own can be insufficient to prepare newly qualified teachers properly for some students with more complex needs. These students require qualified teachers who are trained and equipped with the additional knowledge and skills necessary to meet their specific educational and care needs. The skills learned through initial teacher education and more generalised professional development need to be further refined and adapted to meet diverse and sometimes very complex needs.

It is for these reasons that the Department of Education and Skills established the SESS in 2003 and the national behaviour support service, NBSS, in 2006 to complement the work of the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, which was established in 1999. Last year, the SESS provided in excess of 20,000 training days to more than 18,000 teachers. However, through our research and consultation, we are aware that many principals and teachers still do not feel equipped and confident to teach some students with more complex needs.

There have been good recent developments aimed at improving the knowledge, skills and competencies of teachers in the area. These developments include the Teaching Council’s framework for continuing development, with inclusion as a core learning area. We think this is a very good move because we believe that additional learning for teachers should be mandatory in this area of special education. The inclusion of the study of special education as a compulsory module in initial teacher education was very good. The decision to establish one NCSE support service, incorporating the SESS, NBSS and the Visiting Teacher Service, will reduce fragmentation and allow us to put a more coherent support structure in place which can support teachers and children.

The issue of training and supports is much wider than teacher education. Students can benefit when all staff in schools and people with whom they interact have been trained in whole-school approaches to inclusion. For example, when the NCSE was preparing our policy advice to the Minister on the education of students with autism, the need for autism awareness training for bus drivers and escorts was repeatedly raised, because inadvertent actions on the bus to or from school can trigger anxiety and behaviour issues.

We are currently carrying out a review of the special needs assistant, SNA, scheme. This is a very significant support scheme which costs €428 million, but it enables SNAs to meet the care needs of 30,000 students. The need to improve the effectiveness of these posts with the provision of general and bespoke training for SNAs has been raised as an issue of concern by many consulted, including school management, parents and SNAs themselves.

These are just some of the gaps in the current system. The focus of my presentation has been on the need to improve teacher education, but I am happy to answer any questions committee members may have on my much more extensive submission.