Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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296. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will consider including training for teachers to work in ASD classes as part of the trainee teachers’ curriculum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44637/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Through Initial Teacher Education (ITE), providing inclusive education to children with special educational needs, including those with autism, is a fundamental principle of the Department's education and training system.

Under Section 38 of the Teaching Council Act, all initial teacher education programmes must be accredited by the Teaching Council for registration purposes.

The Teaching Council reviewed its policy on standards for programmes of ITE and published updated standards in November 2020. Inclusive Education has been strengthened in the revised standards which recognise the diverse range of needs that teachers encounter in the course of their teaching, regardless of setting, and specifically reference additional learning needs such as autism in this context. As part of the Review and Accreditation process, all programmes of ITE will have to provide evidence of how the core elements are explored and examined with student teachers during the course of their programme.

In addition, the Department is currently working on a policy statement for ITE which we anticipate will be published later this year. The objective of the policy statement is to document the current policy and provision for ITE at primary and post-primary level in order to increase clarity to the system. The Department also intends to set out its vision for the sector along with a plan of action to achieve this over the coming decade.

We have invited a range of advocacy groups to meet with Department officials who are drafting the policy statement, including groups that advocate on behalf of children with autism. We want to ensure that teachers are equipped to support all learners at school in the coming years. The Department welcomes their contributions and anticipate that they will provide a valuable insight into how ITE can be improved so that teachers are fully prepared to support all learners to reach their full potential.

The Department also provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools, which have enrolled pupils with special educational needs, in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, s/he will have access to an appropriate education.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is a separate statutory agency, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for the provision of special educational needs supports to schools.

The NCSE supports schools to build their capacity to support the inclusion of all children through a suite of professional learning opportunities. Each of the seminars and resources designed within the NCSE has been aligned with Cosán, the national framework for teacher’s learning. The NCSE offers teachers a range of seminars and workshops for teachers in the area of autism.

The Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) through their Primary, Language, Literacy, Reading Recovery & Gaeilge supports for teachers, promote inclusive pedagogies and approaches that benefit all learners, including early literacy intervention models. The new primary language curriculum and support materials are based on best practices grounded in research for language and literacy for all learners in all contexts.