Special needs assistants signalled to be focus of cuts [IrishTimes]
- Published: 18 October 2010
CROKE PARK AGREEMENT: FURTHER CUTS in the number of special needs assistants (SNAs) are signalled in the new plan for education.
The Department of Education document – prepared as part of the Croke Park deal – says the 90,000 people working in the sector face dramatic changes to improve its overall efficiency, flexibility and capability.
But the document stops short of giving details of cuts in the education sector or the likely savings which will accrue from the new measures.
On special needs, the plans says a report to identify “perceived deficiencies” in systems will be published shortly. The report is being compiled by school management bodies, employer representatives and the department. The plan also says that a notice will issue to schools shortly, outlining new rules agreed as part of the Croke Park agreement.
This will require the more flexible deployment of close to 10,000 SNAs within schools to “respond to work demands and to cover absences by SNA colleagues”. It also says “where work demands arise during non-instruction days, school management will continue to have discretion to deploy staff to appropriate SNA duties”.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
