Minister for Education confirms that schools will receive 800 new special needs assistants

Great news.

The Minister for Education, Joe McHugh, has confirmed that schools will receive 800 new special needs assistants. The additional special needs assistants are to be allocated to schools from this September. Schools are set to receive confirmation of their allocations from the National Council for Special Education this week. The announcement will mean that there will be a record number of special needs assistants in school in the coming year, supporting approximately 37,500 pupils across the country. The role of special needs assistance is also set to broaden so that they can help even more children with additional needs. Many schools have been appealing for an increase in special needs assistants so the announcement is welcome news. According to the Irish Times, Mr McHugh said;

"I look forward to applying this new model of support and the opportunity it affords for review and evaluations to ensure we are providing the most effective and efficient service to students in our schools who require additional supports."

With some children being turned away from schools due to a lack of special needs resources, the additional help should make a huge difference to families across the country.