Schools trying to stretch 'finite' special education resources across growing needs, Dáil committee to hear

'When resources do not match need, support is delayed, intervention time is reduced, and outcomes for children are compromised.'

Many schools do not have the conditions necessary to effectively manage inclusion policies for children with disabilities, an Oireachtas committee will hear on Thursday.

Representatives from schools will address the Oireachtas Education Committee, with the Irish Primary Principals Network to tell TDs and senators "school leaders and special education teams are trying to stretch finite resources across growing and increasingly complex needs".

The IPPN will say "resource allocation models" are driven largely by predetermined budgetary limits rather than by the "actual level of need presenting in schools".

The IPPN surveyed more than 1,000 school leaders regarding the provision of additional educational supports in mainstream schools in January and said the findings were "stark".

• Almost 80% of school leaders reported their allocation of special education teacher (SET) hours was insufficient to meet the needs of pupils requiring support;
• 60% reported their allocation of special needs assistants was insufficient to meet identified care needs, and more than 83% reported there were children in their schools who require SET support but could not currently access it, while more than 85% reported a similar situation regarding SNA support.

"The consequence is that schools are regularly forced into impossible decisions about prioritisation," the IPPN said.

"School leaders and special education teams are trying to stretch finite resources across growing and increasingly complex needs. When resources do not match need, support is delayed, intervention time is reduced, and outcomes for children are compromised."

In its submission, the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals will say that "if inclusion is to become a lived reality for all students, schools must have the staffing, the expertise and the supports necessary to deliver it effectively".

"Many teachers currently working as SETs have had limited opportunities for formal specialist preparation for the role that they are doing. 

"These teachers are highly committed professionals, but they are often supporting students with some of the most complex needs in the education system without access to the specialist training such roles increasingly require," Paul Crone of the NAPD will say.

The National Principals' Forum, meanwhile, will tell members "an information gap lies at the heart of many of the challenges facing inclusive education".

"Every allocation system is only as good as the information on which it is based," its opening statement reads.