Government red tape to delay schooling for 2,000 special needs children

AROUND 2,000 pupils with special needs will have to wait months before getting access to resource teachers because of Government red tape.

The Department of Education has changed the criteria by which applications are assessed, causing a lengthy backlog. A number of applications received by the department in February have yet to be processed.

A review earlier found more than 600 applications for special education staff on behalf of 1,500 primary pupils were turned down. The review was undertaken at the request of Education Minister Noel Dempsey, in light of the huge increase in special education staff in the last few years. One-in-eight schoolchildren receives special education, four times the EU average.

There are 2,300 resource teachers and 5,400 special-needs assistants working mostly with primary school pupils. The children’s difficulties range from poor language skills or moderate learning difficulties to severe learning disabilities or autism. They may also have physical disabilities. Each child is allocated a number of hours a week of individual or small-group tuition with a resource teacher, who is often shared between a number of schools.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) said the department should consider appointing full-time resource teachers to schools, rather than forcing children to wait for their applications to be assessed.

“A lot has been done to improve special needs education, but it has run into a planning crisis. The resources should be there waiting to meet the child in a school, rather than following the child,” said INTO general secretary John Carr.

Parents groups said it was vital children had access to resource teachers.

“It’s very important that, where there’s a need, children have access to these resources, but the system should also be examined to see what benefit is being received by the children,” said National Parents Council (Primary) chief executive Fionnuala Kilfeather.

The Department of Education has denied cutbacks are being made in the special education area. A spokesperson said the last of the applications received up to mid-February, believed to be around a dozen, will be decided in the next week or so. All applications made after that date are being processed and schools will be informed of the outcome at the earliest possible date, said the spokesperson. It is understood priority is being given to children starting school for the first time in September.

However, given the decision time of recent cases, it could be October at the earliest before the resources are made available to children.