Madigan condemns school's 'appalling' treatment of child with Down Syndrome

Minister of State with Responsibility for Special Education and Inclusion Josepha Madigan said: “It's wholly discriminatory and really egregious behaviour, and there’s absolutely no excuse for these actions," Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

A young girl with additional needs who spent most of her school day in a foyer was treated “absolutely appallingly”, Minister for Special Education Josepha Madigan has said.

A primary school has been ordered to pay €12,000 compensation to a girl with Down Syndrome after she had to spend most of her school day in a foyer outside the classroom and away from her classmates.

At the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), adjudicator Thomas O’Driscoll said the “unprecedented actions” of the school in having the girl spend a considerable part of her day in a foyer outside of the classroom "reinforced the idea to the other children, and alarmingly for her sister, that it might be normal to exclude children with special needs".

Ms Madigan said she welcomed the WRC ruling and said the details of the case are “extremely disappointing". 

“It's wholly discriminatory and really egregious behaviour, and there’s absolutely no excuse for these actions," she said. 

“We know special education is underpinned by the EPSEN Act (Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs), which at its core means that children should be educated with their peers in a school environment, which is resourced to meet those needs.” 

Ms Madigan said there was a “blatant disregard for guidance and protocols, but also the spirit of what inclusivity means” in the case.

In his ruling, Mr O’Driscoll said he accepted in the main that the school was not resourced as fully as it should have been, but nevertheless he found that there were aggravating factors.

'Good quota'

However, Ms Madigan said there were “close to” two special needs assistants for five children, which she described as a “good quota” for a class of its size. She also pointed out that Down Syndrome Ireland gave evidence that it offered support to the school, but it was refused.

Ms Madigan said teachers are responsible for educating all children and while SNAs “look after the care needs of the child”, they should not have to “provide teaching and learning”.

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She said: “There are guidelines, there’s the Schools Quality Framework, anti-bullying procedures, there’s a number of different supports there. I don't accept any school who says there are not enough resources for inclusivity. The way this young girl was treated was absolutely appalling. It shouldn't happen.

“It's not my experience that this happens in a regular way or indeed in any sort of mainstream way. We need to make sure that something like this never happens again,” she added.