Dáil debates

Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Adjournment Debate

Special Educational Needs.

10:00 pm

Photo of Olwyn EnrightOlwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this issue. While I am delighted to have the Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, here in her new position, I would have liked to have had the Minister with responsibility at the Department of Education and Science taking this, as it is a serious issue. The forthcoming closure of the special classes at St. Brendan's boys primary school and the Mercy primary school in Birr has caused great upset and concern in the area, especially for the children and families affected.

We debated this issue in the House a number of weeks ago and at the time, I outlined the plight of the children who I know are affected. When the Minister first made this announcement to close 128 classes last February, it caused consternation in the schools and among the families affected. There was rightly and understandably outrage at the decision.

At the time, the Minister committed that local arrangements could be made where numbers allowed them, and I believe the numbers allow them here. Indeed, during the debate in Private Members' time, many Deputies from the Minister's side of the House looked for special arrangements to be made in the areas they represent.

I raise this issue because I want to know exactly what local arrangements can be made in regard to the two primary schools in Birr. There are 13 children between the two primary schools in the special classes. There have always been special classes in both these schools. The key issue appears to be a push towards total integration, regardless of whether it suits the child.

Some 12 of the 13 children in Birr - children from all over south and west Offaly - already tried mainstream class but it did not work. These 12 children were already in mainstream classes in their local primary schools. Mainstream class is where every parent hopes their child will be. These 12 families made the very difficult decision with professional advice and guidance that the mainstream class was not helping their children. They made the decision to move their children to one of these two schools because of what was best for them. They have told me of their delight and joy in watching their children finally begin to blossom, develop and make friends in a way which did not seem possible before.

St. Brendan's has had four full-time special needs assistants for children designated as being in need of this help. This school should be at DEIS band 1 like its sister school but it is stuck at band 2 with no opportunity for review until after 2010. Along with Mercy primary school, it will now lose its special class. However, in addition, St. Brendan's is expecting to lose two-thirds of a special needs assistant post. It has not been officially notified yet. It has been told by its special educational needs organiser that she has made this finding but is submitting it to a higher authority for approval. Not only are these children being forcibly reintegrated into mainstream classes, which have proved not to suit them, with the withdrawal of the special classes, they are also set to see a reduction in special needs assistant support. They will have less than they had before they went into the special class.

This is wrong. The original decision was wrong and these extra cuts reinforce the error being made. Instead of compensating these children for the loss of these classes, the Minister is taking more away from them.

The Minister stated in a letter to me last week that the decision to take away special classes is not being done for economic reasons so he should use that money being saved to help those children. He promised there would be a solution. Those representing his party promised a solution and Fianna Fáil Deputies looked for one in the debate last week.

I would like an outline of exactly what will be done. Both schools are willing to enter into any arrangement where they could still have a special class, whether sharing a teacher or whatever, because anything is better than the total loss they expect. I hope the issue of the possible withdrawal of special needs assistant support from St. Brendan's will also be addressed because these children cannot afford to be in a worse off position than they were before they entered the school.

Photo of Áine BradyÁine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I am pleased have the opportunity to clarify the position in regard to the matter raised by Deputy Enright.

The Deputy will be aware that allocations to schools typically increase or decrease depending on pupil enrolment. In the case of special classes for pupils with a mild general learning disability, the normal pupil-teacher ratio that applies is 11:1. The Department, however, allows for a small reduction in this number and permits schools to retain a teaching post where it has a minimum of nine pupils in the class. The minimum was not fulfilled in the schools in question and, therefore, the schools no longer qualify to retain the special classes for mild general learning disability.

In the case of 128 classes in 119 schools, the number of pupils dropped below this minimum. These schools, therefore, are no longer entitled to retain the teaching posts in these classes. All of the 119 schools from which the teaching posts are now being removed are in receipt of additional teaching resources under the general allocation model of teaching support to enable them support pupils with high incidence special educational needs, including mild general learning disability. These schools, therefore, have been resourced to cater for the categories of pupils in question.

It is also important to note that the 3,000 schools which do not have special classes for pupils with mild general learning disability meet the needs of these children through mainstream classes and the use of their general allocation teaching resources. Furthermore, some schools in recent years voluntarily disbanded their special classes and mainstreamed the pupils with the associated loss of the mild special class post.

The pupils from the 128 classes will now be placed in mainstream classes and will receive support from their class teacher and all will benefit from the support available to them through the schools' general allocation model. As I stated, other primary schools which do not have classes for children with mild general learning disability cater for these pupils from within the general allocation model.

The Minister for Education and Science has previously stated that he is open to listening to proposals from schools where they can demonstrate that it is educationally more beneficial for the pupils involved to be in a special class of their own rather than to be integrated with their peers and supported by the mainstream classroom teacher and the learning support-resource teacher. I understand that correspondence has been received by the Department from both of the schools in question in this regard and it is currently being considered by the Department. This process is well advanced and it is expected that a decision will be conveyed to the schools shortly.

There has been unprecedented investment in providing supports for children with special needs in recent years. There are now approximately 19,000 adults in our schools working solely with children with special needs. There are over 8,000 resource and learning support teachers in our schools compared to 2,000 in 1998. More than 1,000 other teachers support children in our special schools. Some 76 classes for children with mild general learning disability are being retained where there are nine children or more in these classes.

The Minister would like to emphasise that priority will continue to be given to provision for children with special educational needs. As stated, the establishment of these classes for mild general learning disability pre-date many of the developments in special education policy in recent years and we now have a system for providing schools with supports for children with high incidence special needs through the general allocation model.

I again thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to clarify the position in regard to this matter.

The Dáil adjourned at 10.50 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 27 May 2009.