Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair and committee for the invitation to attend today to discuss some key issues facing the Department of Education.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for the Government and has been such since it was inaugurated. The majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided. In recent years, several strategic initiatives were introduced to plan and provide sufficient special class and special school places. These initiatives are bearing fruit, with almost 1,300 new special classes sanctioned and seven new special schools established during the lifetime of the Government. In the 2024-25 school year, 14,600 special education teachers will support mainstream classes - the highest number ever. The special education teaching, SET, allocation model for 2024-25 is based on information from all 4,000 schools in the country, and seeks to allocate these teaching posts to schools in as fair and transparent a manner as possible. An additional €13 million has been provided for the expansion of National Council for Special Education, NCSE, services. This includes an increase of 60% in SENO posts.

My Department is committed to supporting children and young people's well-being to give them the best chance of being happy in school and reaching their full potential. I have secured an additional €5 million to provide a landmark programme of direct counselling and well-being supports in almost 650 primary schools, complementing the excellent work being undertaken by schools and other organisations.

School bus escorts play a vital role in supporting children with special educational needs in their journeys to and from school. The largest ever review of the school transport scheme, School Transport 2030, was published in February last. A series of changes will take effect this September, including a new pilot project for post-primary pupils travelling to school on public bus routes and reduced distance criteria. Overall, our ambition is to have 100,000 additional students benefiting from school transport by 2030. There will also be an increase in the special transport grant, which goes to families who prefer to provide their own transport for their children with special educational needs or where there is not a service available. The terms and conditions and pay rates of the approximately 4,000 school bus escorts will be reviewed by the end of this school year.

All migrant children can access education in a manner similar to Irish nationals until they are 18 years of age. My Department has prioritised enhancing English as an additional language to support the integration and academic achievement of students. Some 1,743 primary and 493 post-primary schools are now receiving EAL teaching resources.

There is also a need to increase the uptake of STEM subjects and enhance STEM learning for learners of all backgrounds, abilities and gender, with a particular focus on uptake by females. The recommendations on gender balance in STEM education 2022 have informed the STEM education implementation plan to 2026. The actions identified consider the findings of a robust consultation process and provide for the continued progression and increased take-up of STEM subjects by learners from all backgrounds, abilities and genders. The Department of Education has made significant investment in STEM, including €1.8 million since 2020 under Science Foundation Ireland's Discover programme, €4.7 million for STEM projects to engage children and young people in primary and post-primary schools and €1,800 annually to support STEM programmes such as the BT Young Scientist, Science Blast and SciFest.

Work is ongoing on the reform of non-exam curriculums, and work also continues in an intensive manner on subjects that are part of formal assessment. The work of developing updated, inclusive and age-appropriate curriculums in social, personal and health education, SPHE, is an important programme for Government commitment. An updated SPHE curriculum for junior cycle was introduced in schools across the country in 2023. An updated SPHE curriculum for senior cycle was approved by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, in March and is currently with the Department. Both incorporate relationships and sexuality education, RSE. A draft well-being specification for primary schools, including SPHE, was published for consultation in early March.

As the committee will be aware, in September 2023, I announced an acceleration of the senior cycle redevelopment programme, bringing forward the roll-out of new and revised subjects in order that the maximum number of students will experience the benefits of redevelopment as early as possible. This is an unprecedented programme of modernisation of various curriculums, which is moving at pace but also leveraging the learnings of previous reforms and harnessing the necessary expertise.

With a record level of investment, the school building unit is leading on a major expansion of capacity in our school estate, facilitating a significant increase in special educational needs provision and upgrading and modernising our school infrastructure. The Department has a large pipeline of projects for delivery, including approximately 300 projects at construction. Projects at construction involve a total State investment of more than €1.2 billion and include 31 new school buildings. There are also close to 90 projects currently at the tender stage, including a further 28 new school buildings. A recent agreement on new medium-term capital allocations allows us to move forward on plans to address a significant level of need across the school system. I announced today that €800 million will be invested in school buildings this year, progressing 90 projects, including 138 classrooms for children with special educational needs.

I thank the Chair and committee for the invitation to attend today and to discuss these issues.