Written answers

Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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142. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children in mainstream education who have Down's syndrome; if he is aware of the implications for future resource provision and planning within the education system due to the absence of the condition on the low incidence list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11258/16]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that all children with Down syndrome are entitled to receive additional teaching support either through the General Allocation systems, if the child had mild general learning difficulties, or if they had an additional low incidence disability, as set out in my Departments Circular 02/05, through an additional allocation to schools by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The Deputy will be aware that the NCSE has recommended that a new resource teaching allocation model should be introduced for schools which would allow schools to allocate additional teaching resources to pupils based on their individual needs as opposed to being allocated primarily on the basis of a particular diagnosis of disability. A pilot of this new allocation model is currently under way.

A review of the Pilot has commenced which will allow us to take into account the learning experiences of schools, principals, pupils and the views of parents over the course of the pilot. On conclusion of the review, a decision will be taken on the timeframe for the full implementation of the proposed new allocation model.

Pending the introduction of this proposed new allocation model, my predecessor as Minister for Education and Skills announced in 2015, that additional resources will be allocated to schools, as an interim measure, to support those children with Down syndrome, who were not already supported through the (NCSE) low incidence resource teaching annual allocation process.

Provision was made for the NCSE to make additional allocations of 2.5 Resource Teaching hours per week to schools, in respect of any child with Down syndrome, who was not currently eligible for Low Incidence resource teaching hours.

The allocation of 2.5 hours per child reflects the allocation rates for children in the mild general learning difficulty range, including those with Down syndrome, prior to the introduction of generalised allocations for schools.

This measure was introduced in recognition of the length of time it will take to introduce the new resource teacher allocation model and also in recognition of the fact that children with Down syndrome may experience a cluster of difficulties relating to this syndrome, in addition to general learning difficulties, including speech and language developmental delays.

It was intended that this would address a central concern parents had, that children with Down syndrome with a Mild General Learning Difficulty did not have, adequate support, or certainty of the support they would receive, under the General Allocation schemes, as schools have many competing demands in this area.

In relation to the number of children in mainstream education who have Down syndrome, as Down syndrome had not previously been designated as a distinct category for low incidence resource allocation purposes, it is not possible to state the number of children who have been diagnosed with Down syndrome who are currently attending main stream education, many children with Down syndrome will be receiving support under a different resource allocation criteria, such as Assessed Syndrome in conjunction with another low incidence disability.

I can advise, however, that the NCSE has made additional allocations to schools for 183 children with Down syndrome, who were not already supported through the NCSE annual allocation process.

I can also advise that the Health Service Executive estimates that the prevalence rate of Down syndrome is 1 in 550 births. On this basis, based on the birth rate of 71,674 in 2012 the rate equals 130 births per annum.

Assuming 14 years of education, including transition year, this would mean that there are an estimated 1,820 children of school going age who have Down syndrome. However, it should be noted that some such children may be attending special schools and classes.

The interim allocations will remain in place until such time as the proposed new model for allocating teaching supports to children with Special Educational Needs comes into force. Allocations to schools for children with Down syndrome in the Low incidence disability categories will also continue to be made until any new model is introduced.

I can also advise the Deputy that the Programme for a Partnership Government commits that we will examine the adequacy of current special education access and funding provision, in particular for children with Down syndrome and that we will request the National Council for Special Education advice on how best to address this.

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