Results 2,281-2,300 of 7,283 for speaker:Josepha Madigan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The provision of education for children with special needs is an ongoing priority for Government. The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) are at unprecedented levels. My Department will spend approximately €2 Billion on making additional provision for children with special educational needs in 2021. This year we are providing for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: It is acknowledged that the closure of schools for extended periods on two separate occasions, over the past two years, due to COVID restrictions, has meant that this has been a very difficult period for our young people and students. These difficulties were often even more pronounced for students who have disabilities, or special educational needs, who often found it harder to fully...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support is provided in order to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The provision of education for children with special needs is an ongoing priority for Government. The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and Special Needs Assistants are at unprecedented levels. My Department will spend approximately €2 Billion, or over 20% of its total educational budget on making additional provision for children with special educational needs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 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 important Government decision, which ensures that for first time all primary and post primary schools have the opportunity...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (1 Jul 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 (1 Jul 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, just under 25% 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 (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department continues to prioritise investment in special education, with over €2 Billion due to be spent on special education this year. For the coming school year there will be over 13,600 Special Education Teachers allocated to mainstream schools, who will support class teachers to address the special educational needs and learning needs of pupils...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: A core recommendation of the National Council for Special Education’s (NCSE) Review of the Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme concerned a change in the way that SNAs are allocated to mainstream classes in both primary and post primary schools and called for the greater proportion of SNAs in these classes to be allocated on the basis of an educational profile of each school before the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The Deputy will be aware that I recently requested the Department to arrange for a review of the policy on reading classes and schools. The review will be informed by the Department's Inspectorate’s research and development work which facilitates thematic review of provision and practice in schools. The work will involve visits to a number of education settings for children with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: My Department will continue to prioritise investment in special education, with over €2 Billion due to be spent on special education this year, in supporting the additional learning needs of pupils in our schools. A package of nearly €650 million has been provided to support the reopening of schools. This includes funding for PPE, additional teaching posts, sanitiser, enhanced...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 240 and 244 together. In May 2021 the Government has announced a package of supports to allow primary and post primary to offer a summer programme for students with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage, as a COVID-19 pandemic response measure, for summer 2021. The total funding available to provide summer...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 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, approximately €2bn will be invested in supporting children with special educational needs. The bulk of this spending will be to provide for special education teachers, SNAs and special class and school places, which are now at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I am aware of the school referred to and the issue raised. This correspondence is under consideration. Children participating in a 2 week school based programme receive in excess of 40 hours tuition which is the maximum that can be availed of in the 4 week home-based programme. The Government has approved the provision of significantly expanded summer education programmes for pupils with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: At present, special schools do not have guidance counsellor teacher allocations. The matter of guidance counselling in special schools was considered as part of the Indecon Review of Career Guidance, which report was published in April 2019. The report includes four recommendations relating specifically to guidance counselling to promote inclusion. The recommendations in this report were...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department continues to prioritise investment in special education, with over €2 Billion due to be spent on special education this year. For the coming school year there will be over 13,600 Special Education Teachers allocated to mainstream schools, who will support class teachers to address the special educational needs and learning needs of pupils...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. NCSE is planning a further expansion of special class and special school places nationally, to meet identified need. This process is ongoing. Through better planning at both national and local level, it is my objective that specialist...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Special schools generally cater for children with the most complex needs. Accordingly, these schools have enhanced staffing levels with greatly reduced pupil:teacher and SNA staffing allocations. The provision of training and support for these schools is prioritised including access to training and post graduate programmes tailored to meeting the needs of children with complex needs. On an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Jul 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The School Inclusion Model (SIM) is based on the principle of providing the right educational, care and therapeutic supports at the right time for children with special education needs. Its purpose is to help these students achieve better education and life outcomes. The policy is based on evidence based advice provided by the National Council for Special Education. Independent evaluation...