Schools get special needs warning

EDUCATION Minister Mary Hanafin last night warned she would introduce regulations, if she had to, to make all schools take their fair share of children with special needs and learning difficulties.

She told managers and principals of Catholic secondary schools she would not tolerate the exclusion of such children and non-national children from any schools.

Ms Hanafin said exclusion was not happening in fee-paying schools alone.

“I know it is happening in other schools. In a place where you have two or three schools side-by-side, one school could have a majority of special needs and non-national children, which is not fair,” she said.

“It’s important to have schools which are inclusive and resources will be there to support schools which want to support these children.”

Speaking at the annual conference of the Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools (AMCSS), in Killarney, the minister promised that schools with a cohort of such children would continue to get the resources they needed.

“I’m not going to penalise schools which welcome disadvantaged students and will ensure that schools which need more support will get that support,” she pledged.

The AMCSS, representing almost 400 Catholic voluntary schools, pointed out that only 10% of their schools were fee-paying.

Also, the association’s president, Paul Meany, said voluntary religious schools had always been amongst the leaders in providing education for children with special needs, as well as those from disadvantaged backgrounds and overseas.

Mr Meany, principal of the non fee-paying Marist College in Dublin, said the ideal Catholic school was one which was representative of the whole community and which provided opportunities for students of all means and backgrounds.

But he emphasised society would have to provide the tools and the resources to effectively cater for students with special needs.

“Supports required include significant improvements in the teaching and other support services given to schools, a huge improvement in the service available from the National Educational Psychological Service, the provision for quality in-service staff and new partnerships with professionals in the health service,” he added.

Newly appointed AMCSS general secretary Ferdia Kelly called for an easing of the workload of school principals.

He said they needed extra staff and changes in the in-school management system to meet the needs of today.

Paul Meany said that in an era when many commentators were predicting the end of Catholic schools, there had never been a more important time to proclaim the value of Catholic education.

He said in the new, prosperous Ireland, anything was possible. But, that Ireland, while positive, vibrant and forward-looking, was not paradise either.

“Suicide rates among young people, particularly young men, have never been higher. The abuse of alcohol and other drugs has resulted in horrific and disturbing scenes of violence and mayhem. Gun crimes are a daily feature of life in certain parts of our cities,” Mr Meany stated.

“We seem to lack the maturity to deal with our rapid change from poverty to wealth. Just as the poverty of the past has had serious effects on the Irish psyche, I suggest this new wealth may be creating a new angst in the Irish spirit.”

He said spiritual and community values were being replaced by a loud, “in your face” market-driven pressure to be materially successful.