Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 759: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of mixed primary schools in County Roscommon with an enrolment of less that 105. [22766/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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In the 2004-05 school year, there are 82 mixed primary schools in County Roscommon with an enrolment of less than 105 pupils. Each of these schools has benefited from the special favourable ratio for small mixed schools introduced recently under the general allocation scheme for providing resource teachers to schools to meet the needs of pupils with high incidence special needs, such as dyslexia, and learning support needs.

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 then that every school should have 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 for every child before they were given resource teaching hours by the Department. 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 the school from the start of the school year, so that children who need their assistance can get it straight away.

The school can then use its professional judgment to decide how these hours are divided between different children in the school to ensure that all their needs are met. Research shows that some children with special needs will respond better with one-to-one tuition. Others, however, do better when taught in small groups. Often it is 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 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 that 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 massive 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 with under 1,500 in 1998. Indeed, one out of every five primary school teachers is now working specifically with children with special needs.