Education Minister Paul Givan has today announced his programme for reforming the provision of support for children with special educational needs.
The Minister’s Special Educational Needs Reform Agenda and associated five-year delivery plan have been developed following completion of a comprehensive review of policy and delivery.
Speaking in the Assembly, Paul Givan said:
“Children with special educational needs, their families and schools have, for too long, felt frustrated by a system that doesn’t fully meet their needs.
“The proposals that I am setting out today include systemic reforms that will support: greater inclusion, identification of need, early intervention, in-school and specialist support, and workforce development, to ensure every child gets the help they need.
“We know that early intervention works and it is vital that health and education are working together from the earliest stages in a child’s life to identify and respond to emerging needs. That is why I am establishing a bespoke regional programme for two to three year olds that will also include support for parents and families.”
Emphasising the need for a change to the model of support for children with special educational needs, with a move away from one-to-one adult support for every child, and towards a more flexible model giving schools greater autonomy to meet the needs of the children in their schools, the Minister continued:
“Within the existing model, parents and indeed many schools see a statement of special educational needs as being the best way of securing support for a child. Aligned to this, we also know that many view one-to-one classroom assistant support as the ‘gold standard’ intervention.
“However, evidence from emerging practice both here and elsewhere points to the effectiveness of a more nuanced approach where schools have greater flexibility to deploy a range of professional support models in the classroom. Some of our schools are already seeing the benefits of these approaches to children and we must make these opportunities more widely available as we continue to be guided by best practice and evidence on what works.”
Acknowledging the need for additional investment in provision for children with special educational needs, the Minister continued:
“The need for change is clear and the scale of the challenge is significant. This programme of reform will require significant and sustained investment. I will continue to make the case to the Executive for appropriate investment in our Education system to deliver on these important reforms.
“I am committed to delivering this much needed change during my mandate and to ensuring that our children and young people with special educational needs receive the support they deserve.”
The Special Educational Needs Reform Agenda and delivery plan will be published in the coming weeks.
In Northern Ireland 20% of pupils currently have a special educational need, while 8% of pupils have a statement of special educational needs – an increase of 113% since 2004/05.
More than 11,000 children are in special education provision – an increase of 70% in the last 10 years.
Expenditure on SEN has increased 145% in the last eight years to an estimated £622m in 2024/25.