Schools in poor area face cuts in teacher numbers

SCHOOLS in disadvantaged areas face a cut in the number of teachers working with children with learning difficulties, a union warned last night.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) said that the Department of Education is proposing to allocate one resource teacher for every 150 pupils in each of the country's 3,300 primary schools from September. The plan will replace the system under which children wait up to a year for tuition.

But schools with above-average numbers of pupils with learning difficulties would lose out under the scheme, according to the INTO. These schools are predominantly in disadvantaged areas. Research has also shown the numbers of children with special needs in schools in disadvantaged areas is up to double that in other schools.