School principals turn to charities to assess students
As The Society of the St Vincent de Paul prepares to meet with the Minister for Education Mary Hanafin tomorrow for the first time since the Irish Examiner revealed it paid for over 1,000 assessments last year, it has emerged that other charities are also making significant donations. Barnardos has spent “several thousand” euro on psychological assessments for children who desperately need access to a resource teacher. Yesterday, its chief executive Fergus Finlay said the Department of Education needed to trust the judgement of principals and sanction additional assessments in schools on a case-by-case basis.
Last year, the Dublin Inner City Partnership funded 10 schools, providing two assessments to each at an approximate cost of €7,000.
In addition, a branch of the Lions Club has previously sanctioned funding, but has written to the minister stating it took “exception” to providing money when there is a state-funded body, the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), in place.
Sources close to St Vincent de Paul insist that, eight months after the Irish Examiner revealed the extent of the problem, there has been no decrease in the approaches from principals. Instead, the society estimates that the costs incurred may be significantly higher than last year due to increased demand.
Earlier this year, the minister announced that an additional 31 psychologists would be recruited to NEPS to work alongside the 127 psychologists already employed.
At tomorrow’s meeting, which will centre on the St Vincent de Paul’s pre-budget submission, the issue of funding psychological assessments is also expected to be discussed.
In recent weeks, department officials have met with St Vincent de Paul in a bid to address the issue and improve the NEPS system so that principals can directly access state funding.
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