The Irish Times: Special needs assistants (SNAs) will be automatically provided to schools at the start of the academic year rather than waiting for an individual student’s disability diagnosis, under a new pilot scheme.
At present, tens of thousands of SNA posts are allocated to schools based on professional reports which identify pupils’ additional care needs arising from a range of disabilities.
The new approach will break the link between the existence of a diagnosis of a disability and the allocation of SNA support. Read article