School cuts ‘will hit pupils who need it most’

Parents, principals, and teacher unions have slammed the latest cuts to special needs resources claiming the Government is directly targeting the most vulnerable children.

The latest 12% cut from next September means pupils will have up to an hour-and-a-quarter less weekly resource teaching than pre-2011. It brings to 25% the cut to children with autism, physical disabilities, severe or profound learning disabilities, emotional disturbance and others in mainstream schools.

However, principals said schools where pupils are diagnosed with a disability in the autumn will be forced to spread resources even thinner. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will have allocated the last 500 resource teachers by then, so any applications after that will not be dealt with until Jun 2014.