To ask the Minister of Education why classroom assistants, who are employed to provide one-to-one support for children with a statement of special education needs, are being redeployed within schools for other tasks.

The deployment of staff within a school is entirely a matter for the Board of Governors. Where a child has a statement of special educational needs and is allocated a specified number of hours of support, schools must ensure that the child is provided with this level of support. The Education Authority provides funding to schools to enable this provision to be implemented.

If a family has concerns about the level of support provided to their child, they can ask the school to hold an early annual review, or an additional review, to discuss the provision in place. A member of the Education Authority’s Statutory Assessment and Review Service would be happy to attend any such meeting.