Written answers

Wednesday, 29 June 2022

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs

Photo of Aodhán Ó RíordáinAodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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92. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of deaf and hard of hearing children in each year in mainstream classes in primary and secondary schools. [34710/22]

Photo of Aodhán Ó RíordáinAodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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101. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of deaf and hard of hearing young people who sat the leaving certificate examination in each of the past five years. [34849/22]

Photo of Aodhán Ó RíordáinAodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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102. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of deaf and hard of hearing children in second, fourth and sixth class who completed STen tests in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. [34850/22]

Photo of Aodhán Ó RíordáinAodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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103. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the average results achieved by deaf and hard of hearing children in second, fourth and sixth class in STen tests in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. [34851/22]

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 92 and 101 to 103, inclusive, together.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.

This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing a wide range of schemes and supports for children with special educational needs.

This includes additional teaching and care supports.

As a result, the number of special education teachers, special needs assistants and special class and school places are at unprecedented levels. 

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide.

Please see below data for pupils enrolled in deaf schools. We have supplied data for academic years 2010-2011 to 2020-2021, the last year we have final enrolment data. We expect to publish the final enrolment data for 2021-2022 by the end of June 2022.

Academic Year (Enrolment) Roll Number Official Name Enrolment per Return
2011 16864B ST JOSEPHS SPECIAL SCH 53
2012 16864B ST JOSEPHS SPECIAL SCH 53
2013 16864B ST JOSEPHS SPECIAL SCH 54
2014 16864B ST JOSEPHS SPECIAL SCH 54
2015 16864B ST JOSEPHS SPECIAL SCH 56
2011 17944E ST MARYS SCHOOL FOR DEAF GIRLS 72
2012 17944E ST MARYS SCHOOL FOR DEAF GIRLS 59
2013 17944E ST MARYS SCHOOL FOR DEAF GIRLS 59
2014 17944E ST MARYS SCHOOL FOR DEAF GIRLS 59
2015 17944E ST MARYS SCHOOL FOR DEAF GIRLS 62
2016 20495S Holy Family School for the Deaf 124
2017 20495S Holy Family School for the Deaf 125
2018 20495S Holy Family School for the Deaf 130
2019 20495S Holy Family School for the Deaf 140
2020 20495S Holy Family School for the Deaf 139
2016 19719H MID WEST SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF 27
2017 19719H MID WEST SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF 25
2018 19719H MID WEST SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF 29
2019 19719H MID WEST SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF 35
2020 19719H MID WEST SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF 35

Note: Figures are for those pupils enrolled in a school as per the Annual School Census date for the years provided.From 2011-2015 the data comes from the National School Annual Census and from the Primary Online Database (POD), 2016-2020.Academic year 2020-2021 is the last year we have final enrolment figures for.Roll numbers 16864B & 17944E were amalgamated to form Holy Family School for the Deaf, 20495s, beginning academic year 2016-2017.

The National Council for Special Education have provided us with the following figures for pupils supported by Visiting Teachers for deaf and hard of hearing children. In 2021 this included:

- Babies/pre-school/other: 658

- Primary School: 2,405

- Post Primary School: 1,721

- Special School: 607

- Total: 5,391

My Department do not have the number of Deaf and Hard of Hearing children in 2nd, 4th and 6th class who completed standardised testing and the Department does not release the results of standardised testing. Standardised testing results are provided to the Department in aggregate format.

The results of standardised testing can help schools to evaluate progress in literacy and numeracy, help to pinpoint areas for improvement and will support teachers in ensuring that literacy and numeracy learning experiences meet pupils’ needs. Results of any one standardised test should not be used in isolation, nor used as baseline data for predicting future achievements, nor for solely informing decisions regarding the provision of interventions or targets within learning plans for pupils. Information from ability tests, teacher observations, parental reports, as well as the views of the pupils are also very important aspects of a thorough assessment.

With regards to the number of deaf and hard of hearing young people who sat the Leaving Certificate in each of the last 5 years, this information is not readily available at this time. However, I have requested the information from the State Examinations Commission and this information will be forwarded to you separately.

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