Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

Before the general allocation model was introduced, some schools grouped pupils with a mild general learning disability into special classes. Senators are aware that allocations to schools typically increase or decrease depending on pupil enrolment. In the case of classes for mild general learning disability the normal pupil teacher ratio that applies is 11:1. However, the Department of Education and Science allows for a small reduction in this number and permits a school to retain a teaching post where it has a minimum of nine pupils in the class. The rules also provide that a teacher would no longer be allocated where the number of pupils falls below nine. In the schools in question, the number of pupils dropped below this minimum and the schools no longer qualify for the teaching posts in these classes.

In 2005 when the general allocation model was introduced, schools with additional teachers in classes for mild general learning disability were allowed to retain the teachers for these classes. Effectively, these schools received a double allocation. The number of these special classes has decreased over the years and schools have integrated the pupils into age-appropriate mainstream classes.

All of the other primary schools in the country which do not have classes for pupils with mild general learning disability cater for these pupils from within the general allocation model. The Minister doubts that commentators are suggesting that three or four pupils with a mild general learning disability should be kept in a class of their own when they could benefit from the interaction of other peers with support from their teacher.

There has been unprecedented investment in providing supports for pupils with special needs in recent years. There are now about 19,000 adults in our schools working solely with pupils with special needs. There are over 8,000 resource and learning support teachers in our schools compared with just 2,000 in 1998. Over 1,000 other teachers support pupils in our special schools; 76 classes for pupils with mild general learning disability are being retained where there are nine pupils or more in these classes.

The Minister wants to emphasise that priority will continue to be given to provision for pupils with special educational needs. The establishment of mild general learning disability classes pre-dates many of the developments in special education policy in recent years and we now have a system for providing schools with supports for pupils with high incidence special needs through the general allocation model.

The natural sympathy we all have for pupils with special needs and their parents makes it all the more important that we do not cloud facts with emotion. The parents of all children with mild general learning disabilities need to know that their children in mainstream classes are getting a quality education delivered by committed class teachers and supplemented by additional support from the resource or learning support teacher. This is happening every day in schools across the country.