Niall Collins
Question:365. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education if she can address the issues raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11708/24]
View answerWednesday, 20 March 2024
Questions (365)
Written answers
I wish to advise the Deputy that provisional approval was issued to the school in question for 1xEarly intervention classroom, 1x Special education classroom and 1x Mainstream classroom in May 2022. This project is currently at stage 1 with the Delivery section in the Department.
The school also received approval for 1 Modular Special Education needs classroom which is currently in place in the school and 3x Special Education Teaching rooms.
I wish to confirm that my Department received an application from the school authority in question in November 2023 under the Additional Schools Accommodation Scheme.
The purpose of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (or ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation.
At primary level, this situation generally arises to cater for a school’s accommodation requirements where an additional teaching post has been sanctioned by Teacher Allocation Section, or the requirement for a new class for pupils with special education needs has been identified by the NCSE, and all available alternative accommodation within the school is already being used for classroom purposes.
The school in question currently has teaching space being used for purposes other than for the provision of primary education. The onus is on the Board of Management and the Patron to ensure that there is sufficient accommodation to meet the school’s long-term projected enrolment and any development which may arise in the area. In that regard, where additional accommodation is required at the school in the future, any accommodation used for purposes other than primary school provision must revert to mainstream use as soon as the need arises. The use of classrooms for teaching and learning is the priority for my Department.
The application for additional accommodation has been assessed in this context and the school authority has been notified of the decision.