The estimated 10 per cent of Irish schoolchildren with dyslexia and other reading difficulties are set to gain vastly increased State support after the Department of Education formally launched a new task force yesterday, writes Sean Flynn, Education Editor.
The Task Force on Dyslexia has been requested to present its proposals within three months.
Announcing the setting up of the task force yesterday, the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, said that much more needed to be done to address the problem. In the past, children, parents and teachers had been asked to make do with inadequate support and re sources. However, the State was now in a position where it could invest properly in this area.
Dr Woods said that he had an "open mind" on whether dyslexic children should be educated in "regular" classes or in special, smaller classes. There was, he said, no single solution for all children; the task force would examine what was best for different children with different needs.
At present there are four special schools dedicated to the needs of children with dyslexia. There are also 18 special classes in other primary schools, with a pupil/teacher ratio of 11:1. In the coming months, the Department hopes to provide 50 additional psychologists, bringing the number within the system to 100.
The task force, made up of leading national and international experts, is chaired by Dr Peadar Cremin, president of Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick.