The Minister of State with responsibility for Special Education Josepha Madigan TD has today provided an update on the provision of special class and special school places across Dublin and Cork for the forthcoming school year.

“The Department has been engaging with the NCSE and school authorities with regard to these two areas to ensure that the necessary special education places are provided this year.

“As a Department we are committed to special education provision with over 25 per cent of our total budget being spent on special education.

“Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government and for me as Minister. This year, just under 25% of the total Education budget or €2bn will be invested in supporting children with special educational needs and I will continue to prioritise supporting children with special educational needs in Budget 2023.

“I’m delighted to say that we have made significant progress over the last few months in terms of additional special classes being sanctioned by the NCSE. Since I announced that I would be using the section 37a process to compel schools to open classes across the country, the Department and the NCSE have been working tirelessly with school communities to increase the amount of special classes.

“As students return to school, a record 2535 special classes will open their doors. This is an increase of 383 classes from the previous school year and will ensure that approximately 15,759 special class places will be available this year, including 2312 new special class places.

“In terms of Special School places, I want to acknowledge the work of the NCSE and the school patrons including St Michael’s House, the Spiritans and Cork ETB who have engaged positively in both Dublin and Cork. As a result we are now in a position to provide a significant number of additional special school places with the creation of three new Special Schools.”

“My number one priority as Minister of State with responsibility for Special Education has been to ensure that every child in this country has access to a school place and the NCSE has advised that we now have sufficient places available to meet the expected need this school year.”

Source: gov.ie

Comments