Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an tAire Stáit. This matter relates to the proposed removal of a special class from St. Anne's primary school, Bailieborough, County Cavan. Up to now, 14 children have attended two special classes for mild general learning disability. These pupils would be hugely educationally, socially and emotionally disadvantaged if one of the classes was suppressed, as is proposed. These two classes have been in existence since 1 July 1974 and have served the special needs pupils from the east Cavan area.

I know many of the past pupils of the school who benefited greatly as individuals from their education there. There are excellent teachers in the school. Ms Margaret Carolan, who has been a teacher there for a number of years, has developed a rapport with the parents of the children with particular needs and with the community. She is well supported by the people who have joined the teaching team in the school, and the principal, Mr. Hanley, who has great interest in this area, has adopted a hands-on approach to running these special classes.

If one of the classes is removed, the children concerned will experience a sense of failure. A critical point worthy of examination by the Minister of State and his Department is that these children would have received the normal resource allocations in the schools they were attending. They have come to this school from schools in east Cavan. They received learning support, resource allocations and assistance in the schools they attended, but that was found to be inadequate. Therefore, it would be a misconception to say that these pupils could return to their schools and mainstream education and that they will be all right. If they were all right in the first instance, with the generous allocations of learning support and resources, they would not be in this situation so it would be a misnomer to make that case.

Another interesting aspect to this proposal has been revealed. My colleague, Senator Fidelma Healy Eames, did a case study on a school in Galway, which found that if a special class is removed, as is proposed in this instance, the cost to the State in learning support in terms of SNAs and a range of needed supports for the children with particular needs in mainstream classes will exceed the cost of the provision of the special class. The removal of the class is not sustainable on financial adjustment grounds, and God knows that would be a questionable area in which to seek to save money, nor is it sustainable on educational grounds. I say that from my knowledge of the area as a public representative, of the teachers in the school and the pupils who have benefited from it and from my knowledge of having been a primary teacher and being acutely aware of the needs in this area. I taught in a school in Cavan town that had two special classes at one stage. The pupils in the special classes not only suffer from one difficulty but from a multiplicity of intellectual, physical, emotional and behavioural difficulties, which make their case particularly difficult.

This proposal will not be successful as a cost-cutting exercise. I can think of no other possible rationalisation for it. If it were argued that the reason for the proposal is to mainstream all pupils and put them on a similar footing, that has already been tried with each of these pupils. That is done where it is appropriate. These pupils were only moved to these special classes when all the normal supports had failed. It is not always supportive for a young student to be removed from or to be left in a high achieving mainstream class. Such pupils can experience a sense of failure if they are left in a mainstream class even when they receive support in particular instances. There is a certain dynamic in special classes. People who have attended them have lived a very fulfilled existence in adult life. I cannot see the merit of an argument to remove the class on either of those grounds.

The children who attend these special classes have increased confidence. They have a good foundation in academic and social education and the life skills aspect is important. They are confident to participate in society. The money in providing these special classes has been well spent. It enhances pupils' self-esteem, social development and all aspects of life. From my observation and experience, I found that self-esteem is an important factor for such pupils and it can best be inculcated from a special class setting. In special classes the class size is reduced, there is one to one teaching in a small group setting, differentiation between the pupils' needs, speech and language support and liaison with personnel from other disciplines, such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers and psychologists. Therefore, there is an integrated approach to teaching, which is necessary.

In St. Anne's primary school there are two special classes, which have been in existence since 1974, and they have represented good value. Many of the pupils who attended them have gone on to complete the leaving certificate etc. The Minister of State has a commitment to such issues and I know he will give this matter serious consideration. A serious point to note is that a pupil's enrolment in a special class occurs as result of a professional assessment carried out by a psychologist from the national education psychological service in whom the Department of Education and Science has invested responsibility. Therefore, the recommendation is not lightly made — it is made only when the psychologist is satisfied that mainstream education is not an appropriate placement for the pupil concerned. Therefore, the pupil needs such intervention.

I can make available to the Minister the analysis done by my colleague, Senator Healy Eames, based on Scoil Mhuire. She is an educationalist, a primary teacher, and she has lectured in a teacher training college. She costed such a proposal and she clearly delineated in that analysis the new costs that would be associated with what I believe would be an unsuccessful attempt to mainstream the pupils in question. I would like the Minister to examine that analysis.

We must be careful in this respect. We all have a duty in a democracy and all of us in this Parliament have a duty to rectify the ills of the country by a method that is not at the expense of the weak and the vulnerable. I can think of nobody more vulnerable than the children in these classes who have not succeeded in mainstream education with the provision of support and whom it is proposed will be taken out of one of these special classes. It is not sustainable that that should happen. Furthermore, it is not sustainable to have pupils ranging from seven years to 14 years in the same class.

I appeal to the Minister to examine St. Anne's case and the maintenance of the two special classes. If he does that, he will save money and will do the right thing by the people there.