Illustration: Special needs learners in class. More teachers will be employed to teach in special needs schools.
The Teachers Service Commission will deploy an additional 3,600 teachers to special needs education schools as part of robust efforts to meet the unique needs and challenges of learners.
The Commission will adopt a phased approach to ensure the schools are staffed with adequate and qualified teachers by January 2025, in addition to supporting skills development and career progression of the teachers.
In written responses to the National Assembly’s Committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity regarding access to education by students with special needs on August 6, 2024, the Commission indicated that it deployed 1,763 teachers in May 2024, marking the first phase of the programme.
Phases 2, 3 and 4 will involve deployment of 1,200 teachers each in September 2024, with the rest lined up for posting in January and June of 2025.
“The Commission ensures that any vacancies arising from natural attrition in SNE Institutions are promptly filled, maintaining a consistent complement of teachers in special needs schools,” the document states.
The Commission told the Committee that it is implementing far-reaching measures ranging from recruitment, incentivising teachers, establishing specific staffing norms for different categories of SNE schools to continuous professional development to make sure learners enjoy the right to quality education.
