Latest news with #EducationPlan2025
RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Ministers publish document outlining education plans
The Minister for Education and Youth and Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion have published a document outlining their plans this year for education. Helen McEntee said 'Education Plan 2025' outlined a significant body of work "to deliver for everyone in our school and youth services' communities". The plan includes the establishment of a promised new education therapy service which will see therapists return to working in special schools in the next school year. Children attending special schools used to have access to supports such as occupational and speech and language therapies in their school but this service was removed in recent years, and now work is being done to reinstate access. The two ministers said they intend that the National Council for Special Education will commence work with an aim to provide 90 therapists to work in 45 special schools in the next school year, starting initially with occupational and speech and language therapists. Minister McEntee said supporting children with additional needs and tackling educational disadvantage were "key priorities" of hers. The minister said she would work with schools to reduce the costs they are facing, and also work to reduce costs faced by parents, such as the cost of uniforms. She said consultation with parents would be a key feature. Minister Michael Moynihan said work to finalise the SNA workforce development plan was ongoing and would help pave the way for how best to support SNAs in the future, while also ensuring appropriate supports are in place to facilitate attendance and participation by all children in school. The plan sets out the actions which will be implemented each quarter by the Department. Half-year progress reports will be published, with a new plan published each year.
Irish Examiner
11 hours ago
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Speech and language, occupational therapies to start in 45 special schools in September
The roll-out of a new education therapy service in special schools will begin with the introduction of up to 90 therapists to 45 schools this September, the minister for education has pledged. The detail is included in a new Education Plan for 2025, published by Helen McEntee and minister of state for special education Michael Moynihan, which outlines the Department of Education's intentions to progress several crucial policies across the education system. Access to most in-school therapies, such as speech and language therapy, and occupational therapy, was severely curtailed during 2020 when therapists were removed from schools. As highlighted previously by the Irish Examiner, parents and teaching staff at special schools warned children were missing out on their education without these essential supports. Overlapping with the closure of schools during the pandemic, the HSE's Progressing Disabilities Services model for children and young people saw services reconfigured and clinicians relocated from their special schools and onto Children's Disability Network Teams. These teams, which are managed by the HSE and voluntary disability organisations, face their own set of challenges, including significant staff vacancies and increasing referrals. Responsibility in this area is also split, with some overlap between departments, different agencies, and Government ministers, mainly the HSE, the Department of Disability and the Department of Education. With Government approval to establish a new Education Therapy Service secured, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is expected now to commence work on its rollout, with an aim to provide 90 therapists to work in 45 special schools in the next school year. The new posts will be initially for occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, and a further roll-out to other special schools is expected to be announced for the 2026/27 school year. While the new therapy service will commence initially in special schools, it is intended that it will roll out down the line in special classes and mainstream schools. The NCSE is expected to now commence recruitment, and the same terms and conditions will be applied for staff as HSE therapists. Other policies listed in the Education Plan 2025 include undertaking an initial review of the costs of insurance in schools and circumstances around them, as well as developing a teacher workforce plan and publishing a new Deis plan for disadvantaged schools. A new Deis model was rolled out in 2022 following an expansion of the scheme. The Education Plan 2025 also pledges to launch a national survey of all primary school parents, and pre-school parents, to determine preferences for school type. This includes questions on teaching through Irish and multi-denominational patronage, and is intended to inform school planning in the coming years. Ms McEntee said she was "eager" to advance the development of the Education Therapy Service. "This will be transformative for not just children receiving therapies in school, but for how it will support the wider school community too. "Ultimately, I believe, this will also ease the strain and stress that parents can feel in accessing therapy support." Read More Over 250 children may have no school place, but minister refuses to confirm numbers
