Cuts to special needs teaching may be avoided next autumn

FEARED cuts to special needs teaching may be avoided next autumn, but another review to supports for children with learning difficulties could mean restrictions on help during the next school year.

A notice is to be issued to primary schools within days on how to allocate special needs teaching hours for children with more serious learning difficulties. It follows a freeze on the approval by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) of such positions since the start of April, after the Department of Education realised it was just 100 jobs short of a ceiling of 9,960 resource teachers under employment controls contained in the EU/IMF bailout deal.

It had been feared that special needs teaching hours would have to be shared among a rising number of pupils next year, or that those receiving resource teaching next autumn would be allocated reduced support.

A cap on assistants is already in place, meaning no more than the 10,575 employed last December can be on the department’s payroll.

But the Irish Examiner understands the letter will tell principals they cannot hire resource teachers for part-time hours until they ensure all their existing allocation is being used and contact other schools in their area to see if they have any spare resource teaching hours.

While it should mean pupils entering the system will not be allocated fewer hours than others, it is unclear if the measures will allow the Department of Education stay within the ceiling on resource teacher numbers through to the end of the year.

There may also be concerns at another review of the existing system for allocating special needs teachers for children with more common learning difficulties. Whereas approval is needed from the NCSE for additional teaching for those with more serious learning difficulties — such as autism — and all second level students with special needs, primary pupils with dyslexia and other more common difficulties are catered for under the general allocation model (GAM), which is to be reviewed.

The system was introduced in 2005 to give schools a set number of resource teachers, depending on overall pupil numbers.

However, while it eliminated delays previously associated with the need for assessing each child individually, most schools have had increasing enrolments since, but their special needs teacher allocation has not risen.

A review of the GAM will lead to fears that the proportional allocation of special needs teachers will be restricted and that children may have to depend on reduced supports.

All primary and second level schools were to have submitted applications for resource teaching hours for the next school year by last Friday, but the extra numbers needed will not be known until next week

The Department of Education said it is likely most schools will not be told their allocations for September until next month.