AQW 51583/11-16
Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry
Tabled Date: 27/11/2015
Answered On Date: 10/12/2015
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Education (i) for his assessment of the role of classroom assistants; and (ii) to detail the number of (a) primary; and (b) post-primary school classroom assistants in schools in East Londonderry, in each of the last five years.
Answer:
I remain fully committed to ensuring that all pupils receive the educational support that is necessary to ensure they are able to reach their full potential. When used effectively, classroom assistants support children in addressing barriers to learning, and support the teaching and learning. For some children and young people, classroom assistants play an important role in the meeting of their special educational needs. The statutory responsibility for securing provision for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), such as the provision of a classroom assistant, rests with schools and the Education Authority which is responsible under special education legislation for identifying, assessing and, in appropriate cases, making provision for children with SEN. (ii) The number of classroom assistants (head count) employed in primary and post-primary schools in East Derry in each of the last five years is as outlined in the table below. Phase/Year | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | Primary | 262 | 258 | 260 | 259 | 281 | Post-Primary | 87 | 84 | 83 | 97 | 106 | Total | 349 | 342 | 343 | 356 | 387 |
The data above includes classroom assistants employed in voluntary grammar (VG) and grant maintained integrated (GMI) schools taken from my Department’s ‘Annual Survey of all Support Staff in VG and GMI Schools’, all other data was provided by the Education Authority.
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