Boys’ schools ‘must get extra special needs staff’

Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

Under a scheme being finalised by the Department of Education, each of the country’s 3,300 primary schools will be given a set level of resource teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) from next September, depending on pupil numbers.

The figures will be based on the findings of a census of special education resources carried out among principals last October. These include staff working with thousands of children with mild and severe learning difficulties, including serious behavioural problems.