Disabled children ‘deserve full rights to education’

A new way to give schools extra staff to support children with disabilities should not preclude the Government from giving those pupils full rights to adequate education, a parents’ group told TDs and senators.

The Special Needs Parents’ Association (SNPA) is among the majority of education groups that welcome the planned use of a range of schools data to decide support teacher numbers, instead of those with disabilities needing a diagnosis before their schools get resource teaching hours.

It is likely to come into effect in 2016, although it might still be in place next year, using numbers of pupils with complex special needs and with lowest reading and maths scores, and the social mix of schools.