Madam, – The discussion in recent days about why some schools were no longer entitled to retain teachers in classes for children with mild general learning disability has been marked by an absence of rational, fact-based analysis.
The alarmist misrepresentation of the issues involved by some commentators and Opposition politicians is deeply regrettable.
I’d like to set out some simple facts. Firstly, I’d like to assure people that the decision was not related in any way to the recent measures to reduce public expenditure. Allocations to schools typically increase or decrease depending on pupil enrolment. In the case of classes for mild general learning disability, the normal pupil teacher ratio that applies is 11 to 1.
However, my Department allows schools to retain a teaching post where it has a minimum of nine pupils in the class.
In the 119 schools where classes are now being withdrawn, the number of pupils had fallen below this minimum of nine per class. Over half of the classes have five or fewer children.
It should be remembered that the establishment of classes for mild general learning disability pre-dates many of the developments in special education policy in recent years.
All national schools have received extra teaching support to enable them to meet the needs of pupils with high-incidence special needs, such as a mild general learning disability. This means that schools are automatically allocated learning support resource teaching based on their enrolment.
Pupils who were in these special classes will have their special educational needs met in mainstream classes by the class teacher and through the support of the extra teaching resource allocation.
The majority of primary schools around the country don’t have special classes for pupils with mild general learning disability. In most schools, the needs of these children are met through mainstream classes and their extra teaching resource allocation. In fact, some schools in recent years voluntarily disbanded their mild general learning disability classes and integrated those pupils with their peers in mainstream classes.
There are now about 19,000 adults in our schools working solely with children with special educational needs. The number of resource and learning support teachers in our schools has increased from just 2,000 in 1998 to more than 8,000 now. More than 1,000 other teachers support children in our special schools.
The Government is committed to providing targeted support for children with special needs. We have allocated extra funding of €20 million for this year to continue to enhance frontline services for these children, with half of that budget given to my Department and the other half given to the health services.
The parents of all children with mild general learning disability should know that their children in mainstream classes will continue to get a quality education from committed class teachers and extra support from the resource teacher. – Yours, etc,