Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue as it gives me an opportunity to outline the position on educational planning in schools on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills.The Department of Education and Skills recently wrote to the Teachers Union of Ireland and the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland to reiterate to them the importance of planning for pupils with special educational needs in schools and to note that provision has been made for such planning. Under the Education Act, schools have a legal duty to provide an appropriate education to all students. The Senator is correct to state there is no statutory requirement for schools to provide a particular form of individual educational plans but there is a statutory obligation to provide education appropriate to the abilities and needs of students. This includes people with special educational needs and, obviously, schools need to plan to ensure this happens.

Planning is a normal part of a teacher's work and planning tools, such as the student support file, have been created as a resource to help schools provide for their students. The Government has invested heavily in recent years in supporting our children with special educational needs, with €1.8 billion spent annually, which is approximately €1 in every €5 of the education budget. This is 20%, which is close enough to the figure the Senator mentioned with regard to those needing special support in our schools. I assure the Senator there is no mismanagement of funding and the €1.8 billion is being spent very much appropriately.

All mainstream schools are provided with special education teachers, based on the profiled needs of the school, to provide extra teaching support for pupils who have additional learning needs in schools. At present, there are almost 14,000 special education teachers in schools, an increase of more than 37% since 2011. This has greatly increased the number of special education teachers who have been allocated to schools throughout the country.

The Department's circulars 0013 and 0014 of 2017, which set out the basis for the allocation of special education teachers to schools, note the importance of educational planning. This is to ensure that children with the greatest level of need receive the greatest level of support. The circulars note that educational planning is an essential element of a whole-school approach to meeting pupils' needs. The circulars also note that in making allocations for special education teachers to schools, provision is made within the total allocation for planning and co-ordination activities.

Circular 0014 of 2017 for post-primary schools states the allocation for special education teaching support being provided for schools includes provision for planning and co-ordination activities required to ensure the most effective use of the special educational needs hours provided to schools for children. The extent of co-ordination time required to be used by schools will vary depending on the number of students requiring additional teaching support and the number of teachers proving this support. It is noted, however, that planning for the provision of additional teaching support for pupils in schools is an important part of the process, and that co-ordination and planning time for this has been acknowledged in the allocation. Schools, therefore, should be resourced to carry out planning.

Support and guidance for schools on how best to carry out educational planning is available from the National Council for Special Education support service and the National Educational Psychological Service. The Department's advice is that the majority of schools do carry out some form of educational planning for pupils with special educational needs. This is an appropriate use of the significant levels of additional special education teaching resources that have been provided for schools. The ongoing provision of planning should represent a continuation of the good practice that is already occurring in the majority of schools throughout the country.

I reiterate that no projects or investment in education, including in special needs, will be amended or reduced in the coming months or years because of another project.