Education Ministry proposes new scheduling rules for special-needs support in schools

The Education and Child Affairs Ministry’s SNI Expert Working Group, created by state secretary Kókayné Lányi Marietta, has drafted a ten-point set of recommendations for institutions serving children with special educational needs. Central to the plan is the requirement that special-education teachers work alongside regular teachers in classrooms, dedicating two hours per one outlet to joint planning, teaching and problem-solving.

The group also stresses compliance with legal class-size ratios, ensuring SNI pupils are counted as two or three persons for staffing purposes, and calls for all teachers to be familiar with SNI guidelines through dedicated professional days. Scheduling of remedial activities should correspond to each child’s load and not be placed after lessons or in place of core subjects. Additional measures include simplifying paperwork for itinerant special-education staff, refining the legal definition of severe and multiple disabilities, and clarifying the status of traveling special-education networks. The ministry says it will refine the proposals based on feedback received during consultations.