Written answers

Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Department of Education and Science

Special Educational Needs

10:00 pm

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 462: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the recent cuts in special needs education in a school (details supplied) in Dublin 8 and the fact that this school is a DEIS one school, that it was to have a temporary teacher for three years, but the teacher will be withdrawn after only two years and that several other resource teachers will be lost to the school because of recent changes; and his views on making a special case of the school when he has investigated all of the circumstances surrounding this school and allow them to retain their full complement of teachers. [8839/09]

Photo of Batt O'KeeffeBatt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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There will be no pupil with a special educational need who will be without access to a special needs teacher as a result of the decision to apply the normal rules which govern the appointment and retention of teachers of special classes for pupils with a mild general learning disability.

These special classes which are to close predate the 2005 General Allocation Model of allocating additional teacher support to schools to enable them to meet the needs of pupils with mild general learning disabilities as well as a number of other high incidence disabilities. All primary schools now have additional teaching support in place for this purpose.

All primary schools were allocated additional teaching resources under the General Allocation Model to enable them support pupils with high incidence special educational needs including mild general learning disability (MGLD). Schools can decide how best to use this allocation based on the needs of the pupils. Most pupils with a MGLD are included in ordinary classes with their peers and are supported by their class teacher. The curriculum is flexible so that teachers can cater for the needs of children of different abilities.

Teacher allocations to schools typically increase or decrease depending on pupil enrolment. In the case of classes for MGLD the normal pupil teacher ratio that applies is 11:1. My Department however permits schools to retain a teaching post where it has a minimum of 9 pupils in the class. This minimum was not fulfilled in the school referred to by the Deputy. Therefore, the school no longer qualifies to retain the class.

When the General Allocation Model was introduced, schools with additional teachers in classes for MGLD were allowed to retain the teachers for these classes. Effectively, these schools received a double allocation. The number of these special classes has decreased since 2005 in line with falling numbers as pupils are supported through the additional teaching allocation provided and schools have integrated the children into age-appropriate mainstream classes.

All of the other primary schools in the country which do not have classes for children with MGLD cater for these pupils from within the General Allocation Model. Pupils with a mild general learning disability have, and will continue to have access to additional teaching resources to support their education.

The maximum class size guidelines under Band 1 of DEIS are 20:1 in junior classes (junior infants through to second class) and 24:1 in senior classes (third class through to sixth class).

In order to enable the school referred to by the Deputy to adhere to these maximum class size guidelines for all junior and senior classes, 1 additional teaching post under DEIS has been allocated to the school for the 2009/2010 school year.

The position regarding the temporary teaching posts is that the school was allocated three additional temporary posts for the 2007/08 school year. The school was allocated an increase of one permanent teaching post in accordance with the Staffing Schedule for the 2008/09 year and one of the temporary posts was therefore absorbed in this context. In June 2008, my Department agreed to the school's request to retain the two temporary posts for a further year. This agreement expires in June 2009.

The key factor for determining the level of resources provided by my Department is the pupil enrolment at 30 September 2008. The annual process of seeking this enrolment data from schools took place in the autumn and the data has since been received and processed in my Department enabling the commencement of the processes by which teaching resources are allocated to schools for the school year that begins next September.

My Department has written to the primary schools that are projected to have a net loss or gain in classroom teaching posts in September, 2009. As part of my efforts to ensure that relevant information is openly available to the public detailed information on the opening position for primary schools is now published on my Department's website. This provisional list sets out the details on individual schools that, taken collectively, are projected to gain 128 posts and to lose 382 posts, which is a net reduction of 254 posts. It is my intention to have this information updated and ultimately to set out the final position when the allocation processes are completed.

The above allocations are provisional at this stage and reflect the initial allocation position. The final position for any one school will depend on a number of other factors such as additional posts for schools that are developing rapidly and posts allocated as a result of the appeals processes. The operation of redeployment arrangements also impacts on the final position as a teacher can remain in his or her existing school where a suitable redeployment position does not exist. The final staffing position for all schools will therefore not be known until the autumn. At that stage the allocation process will be fully completed for mainstream classroom teachers and any appeals to the Staffing Appeals Board will have been considered.

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