Falling numbers may force special needs schools to close
There are around 130 special primary schools catering for children whose learning disabilities mean their needs cannot be met in mainstream schools.
But the number of pupils attending such schools has fallen from more than 8,000 to 6,807 in the last decade.
As schools integrate special needs pupils, the number of children attending schools with special classes has risen from 3,435 to 9,384 in the same period.
Mr Corcoran told the INTO annual congress in Galway that the falling enrolments in special schools was a direct result of parental determination to pursue mainstream placement for their child without considering the alternatives.
“There are dangers on the horizon that we are about to follow other trends, like in Britain where 93 special schools and countless special classes have closed in the past seven years,” he said.
Mr Corcoran told delegates that, while mainstream education works well for some children with learning disabilities, there are also many failures.
“The system has not been properly resourced and we have, unfortunately, many mainstream placements that are not in the interests of the child,” he said.
He warned that the crisis in special education will worsen when parents realise that up to three hours a week of one-to-one teaching and the rest of the week in a class is not enough.
“Therefore Government must provide a choice of placement and not let our stock of special schools and special classes slowly disintegrate. The most important challenge facing the new National Special Education Council is to put a real choice before parents and fully informing them of choices available,” he said.
