§ Mr. MaginnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many specialist teachers of visually impaired children, who are not attending special schools, are employed on a part-time basis in each of the education and library board areas; and what is their full-time equivalence;
(2) how many specialist teachers of hearing impaired children, who are not attending special schools, are employed on a part-time basis in each of the education and library board areas; and what is their full-time equivalence;
(3) how many specialist teachers of visually impaired children, who are not attending special schools, are employed on a full-time basis in each of the education and library board areas;
(4) how many specialist teachers of hearing impaired children, who are not attending special schools, are employed on a full-time basis in each of the education and library board areas;
(5) how many specialist teachers of (a) visually impaired and (b) hearing impaired children, who are not attending special schools, are employed directly by the Department of Education for Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. HanleyNo specialist teachers of visually impaired children are employed on a full-time or part-time basis in any of the education and library board areas. A support service for all such children is provided by Jordanstown special school.
A number of full-time and part-time specialist teachers of hearing impaired children are employed in special units attached to mainstream schools as follows:
Board Full-time Part-time Full-time equivalency Belfast 7 2 0.8 Western 6 1 0.6 North Eastern 5 — — South Eastern 7 2 1.0 Southern 5 — — In addition, the education and library boards operate a peripatetic teaching service and four teachers in each board currently offer support to pupils with hearing problems and their teachers in special mainstream schools.
The Department of Education itself does not employ any teachers.
§ Mr. MaginnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how often, on average(a) a visually impaired and (b) a hearing impaired child, who is not attending a special school, will be visited by a specialist teacher each year; and what is the average duration of each visit.
§ Mr. HanleyThis information is not held centrally.
§ Mr. MaginnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children, not attending a special school, are registered as(a) visually impaired and (b) hearing impaired in each of the education and library board areas.
§ Mr. HanleyThe latest available information relates to the 1990–91 school year, and is as follows:
213W
Area board Visually impaired Hearing impaired Belfast 4 69 Western 29 63 North Eastern 17 36 South Eastern 13 64 Southern 18 50 TOTAL 81 282