Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

95. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide details on the level of home tuition support approved for September 2023 versus the levels approved for each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44248/23]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department's Home Tuition Grant Schemes provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school. By its nature, it is intended to be a short term intervention.

The Home Tuition Grant Schemes are governed by annual circulars which sets out the purpose, eligibility criteria and details of the scheme. Circular 0024/2023 provides information in relation to the 2023/2024 Home Tuition Grant Scheme and can be accessed by clicking on the following link: www.gov.ie/en/circular/67f37-home-tuition-grant-scheme-20232024-special-education-component/.

The purpose of the Home Tuition Grant Scheme is to provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for:

(a) Early educational intervention for children with autism who meet the scheme’s eligibility criteria

(b) Students with special educational needs seeking an educational placement in a recognised school

(c) Students, enrolled in schools, with a significant medical condition, or school phobia and/or associated depression/anxiety, which has caused, and is likely to continue to cause, major disruption to their attendance at school

In exceptional cases the Department will consider home tuition applications on behalf of students with diagnoses of school phobia and/or associated depression/anxiety which has caused, and is likely to continue to cause, major disruption to their attendance at school. This exception will only apply where a continued absence from school is required to facilitate appropriate medical or therapeutic intervention with a view to the reintegration of the student in their school.

The aim of the Department is to meet the needs of families and to ensure every child is allocated a suitable school placement. The preferred approach is that children are educated in school settings where children may have access to fully qualified teachers, individualised education programmes, special needs assistants, school curriculum with the option, where possible and appropriate, of full or partial integration and interaction with student peers.

Accordingly, home tuition is provided as an interim measure only for children for whom a placement in a recognised school is not currently available and should not be regarded as an optional alternative to a school placement.

Details of the number of applications for Home Tuition support which were sanctioned for this year to date and the last five academic years is available in the table below. While these figures relate to sanctions provided for a full academic year, in many cases, places are found for children during the course of the year. In addition, under the category "SEN school age no placement" for the 2023/24 school year, there are a number of children who are currently awaiting the opening of two new special schools as well as children who will be returning to school on a phased basis. In these instances, they will only require home tuition support on a short term basis.

*These relate in the main to the early intervention supports available to students before they commence in primary school.