Ireland
Country
Topic:
Educational provision for students with special educational needs is also made in mainstream schools. There are 1242 officially recognised remedial (learning support) teachers supporting an estimated 45,000 pupils with difficulties in literacy and numeracy in integrated settings in mainstream primary schools. Over three-quarters of all primary schools and over 90 % of primary school pupils have access to a remedial service. There are 350 recognised posts for remedial teachers in a total of 795 post-primary schools.
63 Visiting Teachers support visually-impaired and hearing-impaired students, some students with learning disabilities (including Down's syndrome and children of traveller families) in primary and post-primary schools. They also advise and assist parents and teachers.
It is estimated that about 7,000 pupils with special educational needs are enrolled in mainstream primary schools.
Approximately 4,000 students with various types and degrees of physical disability, sensory impairment and learning disability and with language and communication disorders are enrolled in a total of 372 special classes in mainstream primary schools. In addition to having an ex-quota teacher for each special class, schools are allowed to include special class pupils in calculations of overall staffing requirements of teachers for mainstream classes. This concession is designed to encourage the process of integrating special class pupils into mainstream classes for part of the school day. In addition, 72 ex-quota resource teachers provide support for pupils with these types of disabilities in individual primary schools or in clusters of primary schools. The total number of primary schools served by these resource teachers is 266.
There are 321 special classes for children of travellers in primary schools. Many of these make provision for some level of integration of the pupils into mainstream classes.
Primary and post -primary schools located in areas designated as disadvantaged are allowed additional concessionary teaching staff and many have specialist home/school/community liaison teachers attached to them. A total of 107 such specialist teachers provide a service for 176 schools.
There are 81 special classes for students with particular special educational needs in mainstream post-primary schools. These include a small number of special classes for students with moderate learning disabilities.
Five post-primary schools have been designated as centres for the education of students with physical disability and sensory impairment and have been allocated additional teachers, support staff and other resources.
There are 118 special schools, with a combined enrolment of about 8,000 pupils. These are officially designated as primary schools and can cater for pupils aged from four to eighteen years. They are classified as follows:
- Schools for pupils with mild learning disabilities.
- Schools for pupils with moderate learning disabilities.
- Special schools and hospital schools for children with physical handicap.
- Schools for children with severe/profound hearing impairment.
- Schools for children with visual impairment.
- Schools for children with emotional disturbance.
- Schools for children with multiple handicaps and severe/profound learning disabilities.
- Schools for children with specific learning disabilities.
- Schools for Young Offenders.
- Schools for Children at Risk.
- Schools and Junior Training Centres for children of traveller families.
Approximately two thirds of these special schools accommodate pupils with mild, moderate or severe/profound learning disabilities. Almost all of the 78 special classes for children with severe/profound learning disabilities are attached to schools for pupils with moderate learning disabilities.