Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 1263: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the position regarding recent changes in relation to the teaching of children with mild learning difficulties and the new general allocation system and if she will ensure that all children with disabilities get proper resource teaching hours. [1123/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, a new general allocation system has been introduced under which all mainstream primary schools have been provided with learning support/resource teacher, LS/RT support, based on their enrolment figures, to cater for children with high incidence special needs such as mild general learning disability and those with learning support needs.

My Department issued a comprehensive circular, Sp Ed 02/05, to all primary schools last year regarding the organisation of teaching resources for pupils who need additional support in mainstream primary schools. The main purpose of this circular is to provide guidance for schools on the deployment and organisation of the teaching resources that were allocated under the general allocation model. Reference is also made in this circular to the deployment of additional teaching resources that are allocated to schools for the support of individual pupils with low-incidence disabilities, such as moderate general learning disability, for example.

It is a matter for each school to determine the pupils with learning support and high-incidence special education needs that will receive supplementary teaching support. Each school will have enough resource teaching hours to provide its pupils with a level of support appropriate to their needs.

The school can use its professional judgement 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 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. There is nothing to stop the school from allocating one-to-one resource teaching support to any pupil if they feel that this is the best type of support to meet their needs.