Schools expected to turn away special needs pupils if cuts hit

THE Department of Education is expecting schools may refuse to keep pupils with special needs as a cut of at least 10% in staff employed to support them is expected over the coming year.

Reviews into the work of and requirement for special needs assistants (SNAs) are already under way by the department and by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The Irish Examiner revealed in July that as many as 1,200 of the 10,500 posts in schools last year could be cut from next February, based on the outcome to-date of the NCSE review at one-quarter of the country’s 3,900 schools. A value for money (VFM) review by the department of SNA allocations and deployment is expected to be finished before the end of the year.