Special needs education has been prioritised for the coming fiscal year, according to Wayne Scott.

The Minister of Education said the department had experienced an increase in requests and demands for paraeducators to meet the diverse needs of children in Bermuda’s education system, particularly those on the autism spectrum, students who are deaf or hard of hearing and those in need of specialised vision programmes.

Mr Scott said the department aimed to “create supportive classroom environments to meet student needs”.

The department has also highlighted the importance of evaluation and early intervention for children with autism, allocating more than $4 million for learning support. The department funds three education officers for special education and learning support in addition to 40 learning support teachers for preschool, primary and middle school.

“The increase in funding is a direct result of assessment materials needed to ensure appropriate diagnosis of students with special needs and the purchase of unique learning system, a special education curriculum, used for autism functional skills and special school programme,” said Mr Scott.

An additional $3 million has been allocated for para educators.

“Last year the department of education committed to increase the monitoring and supervision of para professionals with more scrutiny applied to the development and review of criteria and paraprofessional placements.”

In October, professionals participated in training that “focuses creating environments that support student success by acknowledging that students have unmet needs and latent skills, which can be addressed by staff response and action”.

Currently 29 students are supported in the ASD programme at five public primary and middle schools.

Opposition member Lovita Foggo said she hoped that somewhere embedded in that figure was an allocation for a permanent commissioner within the department.

In light of the hiring freeze it has been filled in the interim and she emphasised that the acting party should remain.

She said it sent a message to the public when we fill posts with Bermudians — “We do have the intellect and the skilled Bermudians on-island who are capable of sitting in that position,” she said.

Ms Foggo partially commended the new initiative before, while noting the number of Bermudian students who suffer from some degree of autism.

“Again we have a five per cent deduction in the budget allocation where there’s actually a need to ensure more is put in place to help these students have success in education.”

The shadow minister said that aspects of the budget were unrealistic to achieve the government’s goals in education, saying areas such as school improvement and scholarships should have been boosted.

“We need to do everything we need to do to ensure that public education is seen and accepted in the public domain as being the first choice, always.”

PLP MP Diallo Rabain, meanwhile, referred to the recent Score report’s findings on the condition of the island’s public schools, saying that the issue was not a new one.

He noted that in the 2013 Throne Speech, the OBA identified the issue and stated that a facilities plan would come.

“In 2013, we knew we had to put money in our schools and upgrade our facilities,” he said. “In 2014, the minister spoke about an RFP.

“Now, in 2016, we have the Score report talking about the same thing.”

Mr Rabain said there was a public perception that private schools were better than public schools, and that more needed to be done to address the issue.

He suggested that a certain percentage of the Bermuda scholarships be earmarked for public school students.