The Minister for Education has said he expects to give the green light this Friday to a summer programme for children with special educational needs, which will be reliant on the "volunteerism" and "goodwill" of teachers and SNAs.
The Dáil has heard that the July Provision - the annual summer special educational needs programme - normally operates to benefit more than 10,000 children with severe and profound intellectual disabilities and those with autism.
This year, it will be expanded to include children with Down Syndrome and any children who are at the greatest risk of regression.
Minister Joe McHugh said that parents of those children with special educational needs will be "given the green light" for their children to participate in the summer programme.
The Minister for Education and Skills has said he wants to assure parents that in the coming days he will be in the position to give a green light for a summer education programme to run for students with special educational needs. pic.twitter.com/xqUapXgFSy
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 10, 2020
He said the programme will be a stepping stone to help those who most need support.
He said that "any programme will be voluntary in nature and it will be a matter for individual choice as to whether a school or a teacher feels they can participate".
The minister said he could not pretend it was a small request to teachers and SNAs. He said those who feel that they can do something over the summer to help in this endeavour should choose to do so.
He said he will return to Cabinet on Friday to "set out the shape of this year's summer programme".
Fianna Fáil's education spokesperson Thomas Byrne asked how many teachers and SNAs have come forward so far for the summer programme.
Minister McHugh said this is a voluntary scheme and that it will be double the scale of the normal July provision.
Once the guidelines are announced on Friday, parents will have to register with the department, Mr McHugh said.
Mr McHugh said they were "looking at a massive increase in capacity in this scheme", but will be relying on the volunteerism of schools and teachers.
He said there are indications from teaching unions there is a lot of "goodwill" and good feeling towards the programme, but that the department will need to assess the demand from parents.
Minister Joe McHugh responds to Fianna Fail education spokesperson Thomas Byrne when asked how many teachers and SNAs have come forward so far for the summer provision programme. pic.twitter.com/YVLtrm8xUm
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 10, 2020
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, Sinn Féin's education spokesperson, said he was increasingly alarmed from contact with parents and teachers over confusion about the July provision
Mr Ó Laoghaire said it would not be possible to deliver the scheme in the short time frame.
He said schools are not signing up for this programme because they have no information, and he feared numbers will not add up. He asked if any more than five or six schools have signed up.
Mr McHugh said last year's summer provision programme saw 70% of it happen at home, and that out of 4,000 schools across the country, 232 schools had signed up in 2019. He added that they will find out in the coming days what the numbers will be this year.
Mr Ó Laoghaire asked if the minister expected the balance of home and school work to be similar, or more weighted towards schools this year.
Mr McHugh said it can also be group or community based programme, with parents coming together, but that they have to be confident in doing that. He said that last year's figures of home tuition would suggest the same for this year.
