Schools support system to be reformed

Pupils with special educational needs will be able to access extra teaching resources without having to get a diagnosis of disability under a planned major shake-up of the school supports system.

The reform would see an end to what is described as the “inequitable” situation whereby parents who can afford to pay for a private diagnosis are able to access teaching resources that are denied to poorer parents with the same needs. The new system would also shift the allocation of teaching supports more generally from schools in high socio-economic brackets to those in poorer areas, where there is typically a greater depth of learning problems.

Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has published the reforms, which are contained in the report of a working group of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

There are almost 11,000 learning support and resources teachers in the system, which cost the exchequer over €600 million a year.

Under the current regime, pupils draw separately from these two pools of resources.

Learning support teachers, who help students with mild learning difficulties, are allocated on the basis of the number of class teachers or the number of students in each school. Resource teachers, who cater for more severe special needs such as autism, are allocated only when there is a formal diagnosis of disability.

Under the proposed new regime, all such teachers would be known simply as “support teachers”.

Significantly, about 1,500 of them would be used as a “baseline” support for every mainstream school to support inclusion, prevention of learning difficulties and early intervention.

The remaining such teachers – at least 8,500 – would be allocated in accordance with the school’s “educational profile”, a new measurement of teaching needs.

Mr Quinn, who has accepted the recommendations and has now put the plan out for consultation before it comes before the Government for approval in the autumn, said the current system was “clearly unfair and I believe it should stop”.

Asked whether other Ministers were equally keen to protect the budget , he replied: “I don’t have to encourage my Cabinet colleagues because three of the four members of the Economic Management Council are teachers. The Department of Education and Skills is the one department that has been ringfenced in terms of allocation of resources.”

However, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation expressed concern that the proposals could lead to both cuts in resources and added bureaucracy.

General secretary Sheila Nunan said: “While not perfect, the current system ensured that children got access to resource teaching in a timely fashion.

“It was established to mirror the incidence of special education in the pupil population. It is open, transparent and in general has the support of parents and teachers.”

The Irish Primary Principals’ Network welcomed the rationale behind the proposal but said it had some reservations. Chief executive Seán Cottrell said “some schools may lose practically all of their current supports while others may run the risk of becoming ‘ghetto schools’.”