Learning disabilities - Provision of special needs teachers vital

For too long the issue of providing adequate numbers of teachers for children with the most common learning difficulties has been a contentious one and inequitably dealt with by the Department of Education.

Another round of teacher union conferences will again this year debate this fundamental problem, while pupils in too many schools continue to suffer from a lack of resources and others will have them withdrawn.

It is easy to understand the frustration with which concerned teachers and principals have to grapple with the problem, but insofar as providing the necessary and essential resources to address it, the responsibility lies with Minister Mary Hanafin, and her predecessor.