Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason an all girls' school will get four hours per week learning support, for each mainstream post compared to five hours per week for mixed schools and all boys' schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40074/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the revised arrangements, which will update schools' General Allocation Model (GAM) allocations, based on the number of class teaching posts in schools for the previous year, reflect existing arrangements whereby differing pupil teacher ratios applied under the GAM in relation to boys, girls and mixed schools in order to account for differentials of prevalence of learning difficulty between boys and girls. The rationale for the differing ratios is based on international literature on the incidence of disability as well as international and national surveys of literacy and numeracy which indicate that there is a greater incidence of disability/learning difficulty in boys than girls. The applicable ratios which had previously applied are set out in Circular SP ED 02/05, available on www.education.ie.

The NCSE Report on the Implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, of 2006, also examined a range of sources to establish prevalence rates, including national databases, local and international studies and expert estimates, which indicated significantly higher rates of Mild General Learning Difficulty and Specific Learning Disability prevailing in boys, in comparison to girls.