IPPN

Published: 11 February 2009

Source: Irish Examiner

More than 500 special needs pupils will no longer receive dedicated teaching support as the Government tightens rules on staffing levels, it emerged today.

Some 128 classes set up to help youngsters with mild learning disabilities are being axed as the Department of Education limits the extra teaching time to a nine-to-one pupil-teacher ratio.

Eighty disadvantaged schools will be hit by the cutbacks.

John Carr, Irish National Teachers Organisation general secretary, said the decision was indefensible and called for it to be immediately reversed.

"On a day when €8bn is being provided to bail out banks the Education Department is axing €7m in funding to special needs children," he said.

"The decision was made purely on financial grounds. It is certainly not being made on educational grounds."

The INTO called for the cutbacks plan to be immediately reversed until the National Council for Special Education publishes a report on the special classes.

In all, 119 schools are affected by the cuts and 534 pupils will lose their special needs support.

The Department of Education said 17 of the disadvantaged schools will open a permanent teaching post to deal with bigger mainstream class sizes.

Brian Hayes, Fine Gael education spokesman, said the move will pile pressure on mainstream teachers and inhibit the right to a decent education.

"Attacking the most vulnerable in our education system represents a new low even for this minister," he said.



Kathleen Lynch, Labour spokeswoman on equality, said that the cuts were an attack on vulnerable children.

"This decision means that not only will these children themselves suffer, but so too will their classmates, as a further burden will be placed on the mainstream teachers who are already under huge pressure," she said.

The special classes were created for youngsters with conditions and disabilities which makes learning difficult and education bosses have in effect turned a blind-eye when extra staff were hired above the nine-to-one pupil teacher ratio.

But the Department of Education said due to tightened budgets 119 principals have been informed the number of special needs pupils falls below the minimum of nine required for each class.

A spokesman for Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe insisted the cutbacks were simply a tightening of existing rules on staff numbers.

"All national schools receive additional teaching support to enable them to meet the needs of pupils with high incidence special needs such as a mild general learning disability," the minister spokesman said.

The cuts mean the 534 pupils who need extra help will be taught in mainstream classes and by resource teachers.

The Labour Party said they supported teaching special needs children in mainstream schools.

But Ms Lynch warned: "The trend in recent years has been to accommodate children with learning disabilities in mainstream schools, with much of the old 'special school' infrastructure being dismantled.

"But if the replacement infrastructure in mainstream schools is itself now being dismantled, that means that these children are being left high and dry."

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Published: 11 February 2009

Source: Fine Gael Press Office

Fine Gael Education Spokesman, Brian Hayes, today described the decision by Education Minister Bat O'Keeffe to slash special needs classes in over 130 Primary Schools, as the worst example yet of an attacking on the most vulnerable in our education system.

"The Minister clearly has no understanding of special needs provisions within Primary Schools. By removing these classes, additional and unsustainable pressure will be put on existing mainstream classes in schools and will inhibit the rights of all children to a decent education.

"Bat O'Keeffe needs to clarify immediately what additional support if any he will provide to the affected schools. Will the children receive a Special Needs Assistant (SNA)? Will they receive additional resource hours? These questions need to be answered today.

"Attacking the most vulnerable in our education system represents a new low even for this Minister. It could be argued that the withdrawal of these special needs classes also undermines the commitment on the part of the State to implement the Epsem Act.

"I believe the Children's Ombudsman should intervene along with the Education partners to stand up for the rights of these children who cannot stand up for themselves."

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Published: 11 February 2009

Source: Sligo Today

The Department of Education has confirmed plans to cut special teacher support for around 900 primary school children with learning disabilities.

One hundred and twenty-eight teaching posts are being cut, affected 119 schools around the country, most of them in disadvantaged areas.

The department says the decision has been taken because the schools do not meet the minimum requirement of nine pupils with mild learning disabilities.

It says the affected pupils will have their educational needs catered for in mainstream classes.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation is describing the decision as unfair and wrong, saying the children are being forced into an unsuitable situation for purely financial reasons.

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Published: 11 February 2009

Source: INTO

The INTO has strongly criticised the decision of the Department of Education and Science to close 128 special classes in primary schools without warning. The classes are for children with mild learning difficulties and are located in local national schools throughout the country.

These classes provide special education support for children in mainstream primary schools. Generally the children in these classes had been unable to fully benefit from the curriculum in regular mainstream classes. The special classes are part of the range of options available to special needs children from special schools to full inclusion in mainstream primary classes.

John Carr, General Secretary of the INTO, said the decision was indefensible and cannot be seen as anything other than an attack on special needs provision in the country. "On a day when eight billion is being provided to bail out banks the Education Department is axing seven million in funding to special needs children. The Minister should be called upon to answer for this decision in the Dail."

"The decision was made purely on financial grounds," said Carr. "The National Council for Special Education has commissioned a report on special classes. Yet before this is published the whole infrastructure is being pulled down. It is certainly not being made on educational grounds."

He called for the decision to be reversed immediately pending the publication of the report and full discussions with all concerned.

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