‘Special needs cuts devastating’

The effects of cuts to special needs resources are having a devastating effect on all schoolchildren, the primary teachers’ conference heard.

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) has been tasked by delegates to get assurances from the Department of Education that any special educational needs are matched within one school term of being diagnosed.

One of the biggest issues has been the limitation to 85% of the resource teaching recommended for pupils with special needs. Schools were told earlier this year that, where children have a new diagnosis, they will have to share already- cut hours with other pupils.

Éilis Keane, Portlaoise branch delegate and acting deputy principal of a small rural school, said she has spent six of her teaching hours this year on phones fighting for resource teaching hours for three pupils.

“We are not even getting the 85% we should be getting, we were sanctioned 11.45 resource teaching hours for those children but we could not find a cluster [of local schools] to suit the department which would supply us more than 10 of those hours,” she said.

Michael Daly from Cork said his school has seen the loss of half a teaching job or the three learning support positions it had, despite 16 more pupils needing help.