“The majority of children with special needs are supported in mainstream school settings where they may qualify for extra learning support and have access to a Special Needs Assistant.” according to the Special Needs Parents website.
Earlier this month, however, the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) held a conference in Limerick to address recent cuts in the area of special education. As a result of a loss of more than 2,500 members of staff, they estimate a reduction of 15 percent in special resource hours.
Primary school teachers are calling for cuts to special education to be reversed. The organisation’s president, Sean McMahon spoke to Newstalk recently:
“Parents have taken their children to be assessed by the appropriate, qualified personnel. These children have been given a recommendation in relation to the support mechanism. And then, for reasons of fiscal realities, I suppose, that quantity of time has been reduced by 15 percent, which, of course, is completely inappropriate. Surely, as a state, we’re not about to continue with that approach towards the delivery of special education.”
Supporting children with special needs in a mainstream education environment is hugely important to make steps towards a healthier and more inclusive society.
According to the Department of Education website:
“A child with special educational needs shall be educated in an inclusive environment with children who do not have such needs unless the nature or degree of those needs of the child is such that to do so would be inconsistent with the best interests of the child…(or) children with whom the child is to be educated.”
The area of special education is hugely contentious, with children required to undergo stressful assessments before a decision can be made about what level of assistance they will receive. Earlier this year, Brendan O’Connor, who’s daughter has down syndrome, wrote in the Sunday Independent of the paradox of willing your child to receive a negative assessment, in order for he or she to receive greater support in health and education services.
“mild should be a good thing. It should mean that Mary has a better chance at an independent life. But in Ireland, parents speak in dread about the mythical mild diagnosis. The mild diagnosis in Ireland means your child, at school age, is instantly cut off from whatever meagre bit of services they may have been getting. It means they will not get any designated resource teaching hours. It will lessen their chances of getting a special needs assistant.”
This is clearly a vital area in which we need to allocate our resources. All children should treated equally and currently they are not.
