Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir thar ceann an Aire, agus ba mhaith liom é a chur ar an eolas maidir lena bhfuil ag dul ar aghaidh faoi láthair. I wish to outline the new arrangements for providing resource teachers to schools for pupils with high-incidence special needs and learning support needs. I will also reflect on how this applies to the schools in Limerick to which the Senator refers.

The reason for the new scheme is simple. Children with special needs such as dyslexia or mild learning difficulties are found in almost every school. It makes sense therefore that every school be allocated a number of resource teaching hours based on the number of pupils in the school. This is a major improvement on the previous system under which children with high-incidence special educational needs required a psychological assessment before they were allocated resource teaching hours by the Department of Education and Science. This was a time-consuming process that often led to delays in children getting the support they needed.

Resource teachers will now be in place in schools from the start of the school year so that children who need their assistance can get it straight away. Under the new arrangement, disadvantaged schools, boys' schools and mixed schools will get extra resources, as research shows that pupils in these schools are more likely to have learning difficulties. To ensure every school has enough resource teaching hours to meet the needs of its pupils, an additional 660 resource teaching posts, including 340 permanent and 320 temporary, are being put in place for next September.

This will ensure that children who had been given an individual allocation of resource teaching hours by the Department will keep them in situations where the general allocation to the school would not be sufficient to allow it to provide these hours from within its general allocation. The provision of these posts will ensure no child who has been allocated a specific number of hours with a resource teacher by the Department will lose these under the new arrangements. The reality is that the majority of schools are gaining resource teaching hours under the new scheme.

A desire to address the concerns of small and rural schools was the reason the Minister for Education and Science initiated a review of the original general allocation model which had been announced last year to come into effect in the 2005-06 school year. Following this review, a special improved ratio for small schools has been introduced to ensure they are given resource teaching hours on a more favourable basis.

It has been claimed by some that the new scheme prevents schools from providing one-to-one time with a resource teacher to children who need such support. This is simply not the case. While resources are not being provided on the basis of specific assessments of individual children's needs, it is up to the school to decide whether resource teachers work with children on a one-to-one basis or in groups.

The new scheme ensures that all schools, including the schools in Limerick to which the Senator refers, have enough resources to ensure each child gets a level of support appropriate to his or her individual needs. The school can then use its professional judgment to decide how these hours are divided between different children in the school to ensure all their needs are met.

Research shows that some children with special needs respond better with one-to-one tuition. Others, however, do better when taught in small groups. It is often best for resource teachers to work with children in the classroom rather than taking them away to a separate room as the children then have to catch up on work done by the rest of the class in their absence. The point is that the type of response needed depends on the child. While the new scheme will not prevent schools from giving one-to-one time with the resource teacher to children who need it, it is important to note that one-to-one teaching is not the best option for every child.

The extra resources being provided to support the introduction of this new scheme are a further demonstration of the Government's commitment to improving services for children with special needs. In addition to the major increase in resource teachers in recent years, the introduction of this new general allocation scheme will ensure a faster and more flexible response for children with special needs.

As of next September, there will be more than 5,000 teachers in our primary schools working directly with children with special needs, including those requiring learning support. This compares to fewer than 1,500 in 1998. It is now the case that one of every five primary school teachers is working specifically with children with special needs.

In regard to the four specific schools to which the Senator refers, I confirm that officials in the Department of Education and Science have received further information relating to the matter referred to by the Senator. Accordingly, once the examination of the correspondence submitted has been completed, officials in the Department will make direct contact with the schools to inform them of the outcome. On behalf of Senator Finucane, I will advise the Minister of the need to expedite this decision.