Written answers

Tuesday, 20 February 2007

Department of Education and Science

Special Educational Needs

10:00 am

Photo of Dinny McGinleyDinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 534: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will review resource teaching hours under the Education Act, 1998 for a person (details supplied) in County Donegal with learning difficulties; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6528/07]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that my Department implemented a general allocation system of learning support/resource teachers to mainstream primary schools in September 2005. The system is intended to cater for children with high-incidence special education needs such as mild general learning disability and learning support needs, including dyslexia.

It is a matter for each school to identify 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. My Department issued a guidance circular to schools which contained detailed information on how the new system operates.

The needs of the child referred to by the Deputy fall to be meet from within the school's existing general allocation and the school in question has been provided with a general allocation of 17.5 resource teaching hours per week. The Deputy may be interested to know that the pupil has access to special needs assistant support in the school.

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