Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 410: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason her Department is discontinuing home tuition for a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath who has significant medical difficulties; if in view of this she will now take steps to ensure that the home tuition which has been available to this person continues past its designated cut-off point of the 22 December 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27426/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The home tuition scheme is primarily intended to provide compensatory instruction for pupils who have a medical ailment that is likely to cause major disruption to their attendance at school. In this context, my Department provides home tuition grants in respect of pupils who cannot attend school at all or who are absent for a significant proportion of the school year. My Department also sanctions home tuition in cases where children are awaiting a suitable school placement.

I confirm that the pupil in question is enrolled in a mainstream primary school with appropriate supports. The pupil had also been in receipt of a home tuition grant. My Department considers that school-based education provision is the most appropriate intervention for all children and has discontinued the practice whereby children who are in full-time education provision would also be able to avail of home tuition grants. The following dedicated resources are now deployed to support children with special educational needs in the primary system. There are now more than 5,000 teachers in our primary schools working directly with children with special needs, including those requiring learning support. This compares with fewer than 1,500 in 1998. One out of every five primary school teachers is working specifically with children with special needs. There are nearly 6,000 special needs assistants. More than €30 million is spent on school transport for special needs pupils and more than €3 million goes towards specialised equipment and materials.

My Department has written to this pupil's parents confirming its intention to discontinue the practice of sanctioning home tuition grants for pupils who are also in full-time education. This has also been communicated to the pupil's school. In the interim my Department has sanctioned the continuance of the home tuition grant for this pupil to the end of the current school term to allow further consideration to be given to the pupil's needs. In this regard, the school has been requested to make contact with the local special education needs organiser to discuss how the needs of the pupil can be met by the school. It is important that the family keep in close contact with the local senior education needs organiser to ensure that if the pupil has to miss a significant number of school days this year that the need for further home tuition can be considered.