Results 4,801-4,820 of 7,283 for speaker:Josepha Madigan

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I thank the Deputy for his question. In budget 2021, as he knows, we secured an unprecedented investment of €2 billion dedicated to the provision of special education, which is one fifth of the entire education budget. Included in that was provision for approximately 235 speech and language therapy teachers. In addition, we got an extra 1,000 special needs assistants, SNAs, which...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I thank the Deputy for pointing that out. There is a special education review committee that deals with the resourcing of special classes with teachers and SNAs. Allocations are determined under those terms. When we talk about special classes, we know there should be two SNAs and one teacher per special class, if there are only six children in the class. That should be the number. If...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I should have said at the outset that separately from and in addition to the HSE supports for speech and language therapy, we are operating a demonstration project around the school inclusion model. That project was approved by Government in February 2019 and began operating in community healthcare organisation, CHO, 7, encompassing Dublin, Kildare and west Wicklow. It was disrupted because...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The Government has approved the provision of significantly expanded summer education programmes for pupils with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage, as a Covid-19 pandemic response measure, for summer 2021. This is an incredibly important Government decision, which ensures that for first time all primary and post primary schools have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The School Inclusion Model (SIM) is based on policy advice from the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) based on the principle of providing the right support at the right time delivered by a range of personnel with relevant qualifications and skill-sets. On 12 February 2019, Government approved the trialling of a new School Inclusion Model (SIM) for the 2019/20 school year in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: As the Deputy will be aware schools are allocated special educational support based on their educational profile. There are currently over 13,600 Special Education Teachers allocated to mainstream primary and post primary schools. The Special Education Teacher allocation process provides a single unified allocation for special education support teaching needs to each school, based on each...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) play a critical role in supporting the inclusion of pupils with significant care needs in education and in school life. This was acknowledged in the Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme (SNAs) published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018. The majority of children with special educational needs attend school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme (SNAs) published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018 referenced the training needs of SNAs. In this regard, the NCSE recommended that a new national training programme at Level 5 of the National Qualification Framework be developed for existing SNAs who do not have the requisite level of training and for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: In December 2019, Government approved the national roll out of a new frontloading model for the allocation of SNAs support to primary and post-primary schools for students in mainstream classes, as part of the phased roll out of the School Inclusion Model (SIM). In light of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the introduction of the new Frontloaded Allocation Model for Special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: A new model for allocating Special Education Teachers to mainstream schools was introduced from September 2017, based on the profiled needs of schools. The allocation model, is designed to distribute the total available level of special educational needs teachers across the school system, based on the relative need of each school, as evidenced by a number of key indicators. The allocations...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The state will invest approximately €2 Billion, or over 20% of its total educational budget, in 2021 on making additional provision for children with special educational needs next year. This represents an increase of over 50% in total expenditure since 2011, at which time €1.247 billion per annum was provided. Since 2011, the number of special classes in mainstream schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. The Department of Education will spend approximately €2 Billion or over 20% of its total educational budget in 2021 on making additional provision for children with special educational needs this year. The National Council for Special Education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The Government has approved the provision of significantly expanded summer education programmes for pupils with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage, as a Covid-19 pandemic response measure, for summer 2021. This is an incredibly important Government decision, which ensures that for first time primary and post primary schools have the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The Government has approved the provision of significantly expanded summer education programmes for pupils with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage, as a Covid-19 pandemic response measure, for summer 2021. This is an incredibly important Government decision, which ensures that for first time all primary and post primary schools have the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Council for Special Education (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The NCSE Comprehensive Review of the SNA Scheme, published in May 2018, found that the SNA Scheme, as then currently configured, worked well in meeting the needs of younger children and students for whom it was originally designed, and is greatly valued by parents, students and schools, however, it was found to be less effective for older primary and post-primary students. The review...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I can advise that a number of sections of the EPSEN Act 2004 have been commenced. The commenced provisions include those establishing the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and those providing for an inclusive approach to the education of children with special educational needs. The following sections of the EPSEN Act were commenced in 2005. Section 1 –...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: In light of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the introduction of the new Frontloaded Allocation Model for Special Needs Assistants for students in mainstream classes in primary and post -primary schools is to be deferred for a further year to the beginning of the 2022/23 school year. The disruption prevented the delivery of the necessary training and information workshops to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: A new model for allocating Special Education Teachers to mainstream schools was introduced from September 2017, based on the profiled needs of schools. The allocations were updated for schools with effect from September 2019, with limited readjustments being applied for at that time. The allocations have remained in place for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 school years, with some adjustments made...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. This year, over 20% of the total Education budget or €2bn will be invested in supporting children with special educational needs.As a result, the numbers of special education teachers, SNAs and special class and school places are at unprecedented...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I am conscious of the fact that closing schools has hugely adverse consequences at individual, family and societal level and that the effect on children with special educational needs can be even greater.This week my Department announced that expanded summer education programme for pupils with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage will take...