What is the home tuition grant
The Home Tuition Grant is available to children with autism aged between 2 ½ years and 5 years of age who cannot find an appropriate early intervention placement within the State Education system. The Department of Education will sanction Home Tuition for children who are unable to source a suitable place so that the child can get early intervention from a sanctioned organisation such as Shine Centre who have a direct payment agreement with the Department of Education or from suitably qualified Teacher/Tutor who can deliver tuition in the child’s own home. The Home Tuition Grant is an educational grant and cannot be used to access therapies such as Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy.
The Shine Family Support team can offer help, advise and support should you wish to make an application you can contact the Family Support Team on 021 4377052 or email support@shineireland.com
more information
Children between the age of 2 ½ and 3 can access 10 hours home tuition per week. Children over 3 years of age can access 20 hours of home tuition per week.
The proposed Tutor/Teacher must meet very strict criteria to qualify to deliver tuition under the Home Tuition Scheme. Tutors must be registered with the Teaching Council and fully Garda vetted. The Tutor must submit documentary evidence to the Department of Education to show that they are appropriately qualified/registered in both of these areas before they can be approved for the scheme.
The next step in the process is to contact your local SENO (Special Educational Needs Organiser) who must approve the Home Tuition application prior to sending it to the Department of Special Education.
payment
If you engage an individual Tutor to deliver Home Tuition in your own home the Department of Education will pay the grant directly to the tutor. The parent of the child receiving tuition must sign and validate a form for the Department on a monthly basis detailing the hours worked by the tutor during that month.
Any travel expenses incurred by the tutor are the responsibility of the tutor and should not be paid by parents.
Apply
The completed application form along with all the relevant documentation can then be sent to the Home Tuition Unit of The Department of Education and Skills for approval. Forms should be returned to the following address:
Home Tuition Unit,
Special Education Section
Department of Education
Cornamaddy,
Athlone
Co. Westmeath.
N37 X659
