‘Resources lack’ for special needs move

THE integration of pupils with significant learning needs into mainstream classes because their special classes have been cut is not the best solution because there may be a shortage of other resources in schools, an expert has warned.

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe announced in February that 128 special classes with 534 pupils with mild general learning disability (MGLD) — significantly below average IQ for their age — would no longer be staffed from next September. The reason was that none of these classes had the nine pupils required for the school to maintain it and the minister insisted the best way for these children to progress was through integration with other pupils.

However, the author of a book outlining research over 18 years on MGLD children has claimed that this policy is only suitable in certain circumstances.