Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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1270. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the supports specifically available to students with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40105/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Inclusion is one of the core strategic goals for my Department. My ambition is to ensure that we provide supports and opportunities for learning to all. This means recognising the needs of vulnerable learners, the most marginalised and those with special and additional needs.

A range of supports and measures are in place for learners with disabilities; some of these supports are targeted while others are available to the general student populace. The main support available to students is the statutory based Student Grant Scheme. Under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those which relate to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. Circa 75,000 students are supported annually under the fund.

The Student Assistance Fund (SAF) provides financial assistance to students experiencing financial difficulties while attending higher education. Students can be assisted towards costs such as rent, childcare costs, transport costs and books/class materials. Students on full or part-time courses leading to a higher education award in the universities, institutes of technology and other approved colleges can apply for the SAF. Circa 14,000 students are supported annually under the fund.

The Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) supports participation by students with a disability in further and higher education. The FSD is one of the main funding sources supporting participation by students with disabilities in approved further and higher education courses in Ireland. It also supports students from Ireland to study on approved courses in Northern Ireland, the UK and other EU countries. The actual level of support to be provided to individual students is decided by each institution who carry out a needs assessment to determine the types of supports and accommodations needed. Circa 14,000 students are supported annually under the fund.

Earlier this year I approved a number of strategic projects under the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) aimed at supporting students with disabilities to access and engage with higher education. The initiatives, which involve 23 higher education institutions (HEI) and €5.4m in expenditure, are broad and are aimed at improving access to higher education for people with a disability, to improving college campuses and to assist staff with training and development. Among the projects are a number of projects for students with autism including the establishment of autism friendly rooms across nine different campuses, the development of assistive technology including for students with disabilities, an app to help students with visual or hearing impairment navigate their way around campus and specialist assistance for students who are deaf.

Circa €40m is allocated annually to higher education institutions (HEIs), through their core funding, in recognition of the additional costs of recruiting and retaining students from National Access Plan target groups, including students with disabilities. This enables all HEIs to have an access infrastructure, including disability support services, in place that provides for the pre-entry and post-entry work required to support students from target groups to access and successfully complete higher education.

Apart from the student grant and dedicated access supports, the Deputy will be aware of the range of additional supports that were put in place for students as part of Budget 2021 and as part of the Government's COVID response last year. These included: additional supports for access measures in higher education; a mitigating educational disadvantage fund for further education and training; a student laptop scheme; a once off grant of €250 for students; additional funding for student mental health and well-being; and Dormant Accounts Funding for Traveller access to and progress within higher education.

The National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2016-2021 (NAP) has set targets to increase participation in higher education by people with disabilities. Specific targets have been set to increase participation in higher education by students with physical or sensory disabilities. The original (8%) and revised target (12%) under the National Access Plan of new entrants to higher education with disabilities has now been exceeded, with 12.3% of new entrants to higher education in 2019/20 declaring a disability.

While there is significant provision for students with intellectual disabilities in the further education and training sector where there were 2,821 learners with intellectual disabilities in 2019 and some provision in the higher education sector involving a comparatively small number of learners. I have asked my officials to engage with the HEA and SOLAS to see where we can play a stronger role, in meeting the educational needs of this group as part of a coherent whole of Government responses. We are at an early stage of work in this area, but it is an area I am strongly committed to pursuing.

Fostering Inclusion is one of the three core pillars around which the Further Education and Training (FET) Strategy 2020-2024 is built. SOLAS, Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), and the 16 ETBs across the country have progressed a series of actions to support the goal of Fostering Inclusion through the development and roll-out of a series of good practice guidelines to promote inclusion throughout FET, including for learners with a disability. This includes the development of a conceptual framework for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for the FET Sector, which aims to reduce obstacles to learning by taking into account the needs of learners of diverse backgrounds and abilities. SOLAS are also working on finalising a report on‘Guidelines on Inclusion of People with Intellectual Disabilities in Adult Literacy Service’.

The FET sector is committed to increasing levels of inclusion through the provision of high quality, more accessible and flexible education and training programmes and supports suited to the identified needs of individuals, including for learners with a disability. Supports in the FET sector for learners with a disability include access to the Fund for Students with a Disability (FSD), a wide range of reasonable accommodations depending on the learner’s needs, the Adult Education Guidance Service (AEGS), as well as provision of specific programmes for learners with a disability who may require more intensive supports through Specialist Training Provision (STP).

Ensuring that the apprenticeship population reflects the general population is a stated aim of the Government in both the Programme for Government and the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025. Targets for participation by under-represented groups, and additional specific actions to support those target groups will be set in conjunction with the Equity of Access Subcommittee (of the National Apprenticeship Alliance) and will be monitored on an ongoing basis to ensure that interventions are working and that we are delivering greater diversity across the apprentice population.

My Department will continue to keep existing provision and initiatives under review. We want to develop a better understanding of what works best within the different models, and to look at how we can assist people to access and progress through higher and further education and training. Thus ensuring that we grow prosperity across communities and build social cohesion, while also recognising the different needs of learners and enabling each and every one of them to develop to their full potential.