Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for the invitation. I am accompanied by Brendan Doody, assistant chief inspector, special education; Frank Hanlon, principal officer, special education; and Andrina Donovan, assistant principal officer, special education.

The mission of the Department of Education is to facilitate all individuals through learning to achieve their full potential and to ensure that the education system upholds the rights of every individual. The subject of this meeting is autism policy in education and as Minister of State with special responsibility for education and inclusion, I am committed to making a difference for students who have additional needs as part of an inclusive education system. My Department’s policy is to ensure that all children with special educational needs can be provided with an education appropriate to their needs. This means that children with special educational needs should be included where possible and appropriate in mainstream settings with the necessary additional teaching and care supports in place. In circumstances where children with special educational needs require more specialised interventions, special school or special class places are provided for. I fully recognise that these more specialist supports and settings also have an important role to play.

It should be noted that the vast majority of children with special educational needs are educated in mainstream classes. The benefits of mainstream education are known and recognised. We must continue to build a society with inclusion at its heart, where everyone is welcome and where full participation is the right of all people, no matter their background or need. While the overwhelming majority of our students are to be found in mainstream provision, we recognise the need to ensure that those students with more complex and enduring special educational needs are provided for as effectively as possible. In recent years, we have made great progress in providing the additional special class and special school places necessary to meet the emerging needs of children and young people, particularly those with autism.

This year, my Department will spend over €2 billion, or more than 25% of its total education budget, on providing additional supports for children with special educational needs. This represents an increase of over 60% in total expenditure since 2011. The number of special classes in mainstream schools has increased from 548 in 2011 to 2,118 for the 2021-22 school year. A further 315 special classes have since been sanctioned, which will bring the total number of classes to at least 2,463 in the 2022-23 school year. This represents an increase of 349% since 2011. The vast majority of our special classes are provided for children with autism. There are now 2,184 special classes for children with autism in place: 146 early intervention autism special classes, 1,401 primary autism special classes and 637 post-primary autism special classes. Special classes to support children with significant special educational needs are substantially smaller than mainstream classes and have a pupil-teacher ratio as low as 6:1 and will have special needs assistants, SNAs, assigned to look after the pupils' care needs. Special classes for children with autism, for example, have one teacher and two SNAs for six children.

Overall, almost 13,000 pupils are enrolled in special classes in mainstream primary and post-primary schools, representing approximately 1% of the overall pupil population. Three new special schools have been opened in the last three years, two in Dublin and one in Cork, and additional places continue to be provided to ensure that children with the most complex educational needs, including those with autism, receive an education in line with their needs. We have worked hard to strengthen and streamline the planning systems between the Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to ensure sufficient special education places are available to meet needs throughout the country.

Significant investment has been made to ensure that schools have the necessary accommodation and facilities to receive children and young people with disabilities.

Professional development for teachers and school leaders is key to building capacity and confidence among teachers and their leaders and a truly inclusive culture and school environment. A comprehensive range of in-service teacher professional learning opportunities allows those working at all levels of education to access supports which will benefit all learners, including those with autism. Annually, the Department of Education provides funding for two distinct categories of postgraduate programmes for special education teachers, namely the postgraduate diploma programme of continuing professional development, CPD, for special education teachers and the graduate certificate in the education of pupils on the autism spectrum. The aim is to provide substantial theoretical and practical CPD to teachers working with students with special educational needs, contributing to the school's overall capacity to meet the needs of pupils with SEN, including autism.

I recognise the need for schools and teachers to have access to high-quality resources and supports to inform their practice every day. I was pleased, therefore, to announce the publication of Autism Good Practice Guidance for Schools in March 2022 as a resource for schools and others. This important document is designed to help to support the well-being, learning and participation of children and young people with autism in education. It will assist school staff to understand the varied nature of students' strengths and needs and to identify whole-school and individualised approaches to supports for students.

We are also reviewing the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, known as the EPSEN Act. That legislation, as the committee will know, has been in place for almost 20 years, and it is timely that we are reviewing it now. There have been many significant changes and developments in departmental policy since the EPSEN Act, and education provision has increased very substantially in the intervening period. There has also been legislative change that impacts education. This review will help to ensure our laws reflect current policy on and international norms in respect of provision and inclusion. It is envisaged that the full review will be completed by early 2023.

Supporting the transition of young people with a disability right through the education system, with a particular focus on enabling young people to make informed life choices, is a priority for me. We are working with colleagues across a number of Departments to ensure that remains a focus of the third action plan under the comprehensive employment strategy for persons with disabilities, which will cover the period from 2022 to 2024.

The development of a demonstration transition programme has been agreed to address the transition needs of young people with disabilities in the two-year run-up to their departure from school. Under the proposal, the pilot will take place on 20 project sites with representation from a cross section of schools to include students with disabilities in mainstream post-primary settings, located in special classes attached to mainstream and in special schools.

I announced on 15 November a further planned development in the area of transition; namely, a transitions pilot for post-primary level students with special education needs. This measure will involve the Department partnering with an NGO with experience in this area and a number of schools, identified following a call for participation, to support the transition of post-primary level students with SEN to employment, training or further study. Under the proposal, the pilot will take place on seven project sites. Each one will partner with a careers and employment facilitator to engage with students and their parents and to collaborate with teachers in complementary activities such as mini companies, work experience and transition planning. This development is in the initiation phase and is planned to progress later this year.

I believe representatives of the NCSE have been before the committee recently. As members will know, it was set up in 2003 with the aim of improving the delivery of education services to persons with SEN, with a particular emphasis on children. I recently appointed the new CEO of the NCSE, John Kearney, who I believe will make the necessary changes to reform the organisation. There are legacy issues that need to be addressed. I am well aware of that and I will put in place the necessary resources in order to achieve that. The Department of Education continues to work with the NCSE, all the education stakeholders and, of course, schools to seek to continue to improve education provision for children and young people with SEN.

There are a significant number of policy initiatives and various legislation relevant to the provision of education for children and young people with SEN. In particular, the NCSE's final report offering policy advice on special schools and classes will be submitted to the Department later this year. It will inform the Department in making decisions on the direction of special education policy in the coming years, including in respect of special school and special class provision.

The committee asked for a statement on the Department's plans to increase the number of post-primary special schools. This is specifically in reference to the disparity in the number of primary special schools and post-primary special schools in Dublin. It should be noted that all special schools are categorised by the Department as primary special schools. There are no post-primary special schools. While there are a small number of special schools which cater largely to post-primary-aged students, those special schools remain primary special schools. Therefore, they operate for the primary year, which means that the students attend throughout June. Furthermore, 60% of our post-primary schools have either an existing special class or a project on the school building programme which will provide SEN accommodation. Last year I secured an agreement to introduce future-proofing at post-primary level involving the incorporation of four special classes in all new 1,000-student post-primary schools and other large-scale projects and pro ratafor medium-sized to smaller schools. We have also successfully engaged with the Spiritan Education Trust on SEN provision at its school sites, including its post-primary schools in the fee-charging sector. We are opening new special schools in response to emerging demand and looking at new opportunities to enhance how children with SEN are supported while awaiting school places. The Ombudsman for Children's report recommends that the Department and the NCSE publish a plan for ensuring there are sufficient school places in the short to medium term to meet the forecasted needs of children with SEN in their local communities. I welcomed the ombudsman's report. I have accepted its recommendations and will work with stakeholders to implement them.

I am committed to engaging intensely with schools, particularly post-primary schools, to ensure that there is an adequate supply of special classes and, ultimately, that every school will have special education provision.