Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I call Deputy Emer Currie to speak on the first Topical Issue matter.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. This is a question that she raised today during Questions on Policy or Legislation. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, for being here, and I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, who cannot be here, in advance for his written response. I hope that, based on this, he can meet us and other Deputies about this issue, since I know it is an issue he is interested in.

The Department of Education has a policy of opening special classes for children with additional needs whose needs are not being met in mainstream classes. The 3,336 special classes open at the moment are mainly for children with autism. We need more of them, we need to get better at opening them and we need a system of forward planning based on our current projections of children who require additional supports. What I do not understand is why the Department of Education therefore no longer supports the opening of new reading schools or classes. I believe no such classes have been opened since 2017. In fact, there are only 14 reading classes and four special schools nationally for children with severe dyslexia. This is simply not enough. In an ideal world, the right educational supports could be made available to children in a mainstream setting. I recognise the work and increase in the number of special education teachers all across the country, but the reality of those supports is different in the classroom. Those supports are severely stretched. Families, Dyslexia Ireland and National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologists want reading classes and reading schools to be opened. In my experience, there are families who feel, even with the right educational supports, that intensive intervention in a specialised class focusing on literacy and reading skills for up to two years is an all-round more inclusive approach and experience than children coming in and out of classrooms with a special education teacher. They do not see a reading class or a reading school as a failure of inclusion; they see it as an enabler of inclusion in the long term. We ask the Minister to look again at this policy and at opening reading classes for children with severe dyslexia.

Catherine Callaghan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I would like to add to the great points that Deputy Currie made. If you look up online the difficulties that children with dyslexia face, you will often find something like the following statement:

Dyslexia causes difficulties with reading accuracy and fluency, spelling, writing, working at speed, holding information in mind while working on it, and processing verbal information. It can impact maths and other curriculum areas, and many dyslexics feel exhausted and challenged every day in school.

As a former SNA, I know what a struggle with dyslexia looks like in a mainstream classroom. It looks like this. It is John who misses school a lot. It is Katie who never has her homework done. It is John who pretends he is not listening when the teacher asks him to answer a question that is on the whiteboard, because he does not understand what is written on the whiteboard. It is Katie who goes out on a break and is aggressive and angry in the school yard because she just spent two hours in a classroom when she did not know what was going on and could not understand what the teacher was putting on the board, so she feels frustrated and powerless. It is John who feels sick to his stomach at the thought of being asked to read out loud. Can you imagine what that feels like? Can you put yourselves in the shoes of John or Katie?

We need to do better for our children with dyslexia in primary and secondary schools. I am working alongside a DEIS school in Kilkenny, which says that 10% of pupils in the school have dyslexia, but they have no extra support other than the standard learning supports that are in every school. Children with dyslexia need specific supports, however. The Wilson programme is the gold standard. It works by teaching phonics to dyslexic children in a way that dyslexic children can understand. We only need to look at the transformative educational experience that children with autism have experienced. I will come back in in my second contribution.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I want to stress that enabling students with additional educational needs to receive an appropriate education is an absolute priority for this Government. I taught in the education system and taught students with additional needs, so I understand the issue. It is the Government's priority to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to our schools to allow children with special educational needs to flourish and prosper. It is important to highlight that the majority of children with additional educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. For children with more complex needs, special classes are provided. For children with the most complex needs, special school places are provided.

At present, as Deputy Currie outlined, there are 14 reading classes and four special schools to support students with severe dyslexia and I want to acknowledge the excellent work that they do. I take the Deputies' points that more reading classes for children with dyslexia would be a positive step to support their educational needs. Around 15,000 special education teachers are employed in mainstream schools to support students with additional needs. In practical terms, this means that schools get a substantial additional teaching allocation to support children with special educational needs who are in mainstream classes. The additional resources are intended to support students with the greatest levels of need, including those with dyslexia or severe dyslexia.

Of course, the importance of building the capacity of teachers in mainstream schools to meet the needs of all students is recognised. To support this, we provide 338 funded places each year to teachers to attend postgraduate special educational needs programmes. The NCSE offers dedicated professional learning opportunities for teachers supporting students with additional needs. NEPS also provides professional learning opportunities that are available to all primary and post-primary school teachers on supporting children and young people with literacy difficulties, including dyslexia. Funding is also made available to schools for the purchase of specialised equipment such as computers or software to assist children with special educational needs, including children with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia. Schools can apply to the NCSE through their local special educational needs organiser, SENO, for such support. The need for any additional provision or resources for schools to support students with dyslexia will be kept under constant review by the NCSE and the Department. I reiterate the point that I made at the outset. I take on board the points that the Deputies raised. I believe that more reading classes for children with dyslexia would be a positive step to support their educational needs.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I want to acknowledge how significant that sentence in the written response is. I take the Minister of State's point that more reading classes for children with dyslexia would be a positive step to support their educational needs, because there has been a policy of not opening reading classes and reading schools. Parents are having to fight for those places and then have to travel very long distances in order to access them. It should not be like that. I welcome the commitment in the programme for Government regarding additional time for exams and assistive technology. We need to see progress. We need to see dyslexia being put firmly on the agenda for special education, delivering for these families and children who really need it.

Catherine Callaghan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To follow on from what I was saying, we only need to look at the transformative educational experience that children with autism are experiencing in Ireland due to the introduction of many more special educational classrooms. Reading classes in a mainstream setting would allow these targeted supports that I have mentioned to be delivered to children with dyslexia.

It would also allow them to stay in their class in their local school with their friends and siblings. Every parish could have a reading class in the local school. Children with dyslexia often have very good social skills and they do not find the social side of school challenging.

I invite the Minister to visit the school in Kilkenny that is already fighting this fight. She can meet the children, including John and Katie. We must own up to the fact that the current way we look after children with dyslexia with resources and SET is not sufficient for children with dyslexia.

Between 5% and 8% of our population have dyslexia, but 30% of entrepreneurs have dyslexia. Children with dyslexia can be incredibly bright, but they are not able to access the information because they need extra support with reading classes.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank both Deputies for their advocacy in this area. As I stated in my opening remarks, I do understand it. I taught in the education system myself. I have met children who are similar to the children in the examples given by the Deputies.

It is important to also put in context that the Department will spend €2.9 billion this year on special education, one quarter of the entire education budget, rightly so, because those students require the supports the Deputies advocate for on the floor of the Dáil. More than 28,000 children are being supported in special schools and classes and the number of special classes has increased by 100% since 2020 through investment by the previous Government, which will continue under this Government.

It is the statutory responsibility of the NCSE to work with schools to provide sufficient special education provision each year. As already outlined, there is provision for a further 400 new special classes for the coming school year. A total of 336 of these new classes have already been sanctioned.

I take on board the point specific points about the reading classes. I will bring them back to the Minister for Education. I hear the passion of the Deputies on the issue.