Colette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the action plan for education and particularly the focus on the disadvantaged. My first job was in Finglas, working in the Youth Encounter project, which involved looking after children who had dropped out of mainstream education. That theme has followed me throughout my working life. I worked in England setting up Sure Start centres which focussed on educational disadvantage. When working with the Simon Community in Cork I could see the impact of low educational attainment on the people who came through the doors. In the prison system there is a much higher rate of people with learning disabilities in prisons that is found in the general population. Even in dementia, people who have poor educational attainment have higher rates of dementia. It is a fundamental issue that affects us across our lives. I often think of the 2,500 children living in emergency accommodation. How on earth are they to succeed in the world? How are they going to do their homework? How will they be educated?

I want to talk about children with autism. Children and students with autism should be able to access a diverse and suitable education in a mainstream setting. The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, EPSEN, provides that children are to be educated in an inclusive setting unless this would not be in the best interests of the child. The provision of an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classroom, which enables people with autism to navigate school successfully, are key to making mainstream education accessible. Allowing students with autism to attend mainstream education has a positive effect on the whole school, providing all students with an insight and understanding of autism. The world is a diverse place and our schools and classrooms should reflect that reality. There is a current chronic lack of ASD classrooms, particularly at second level. At present schools can and often do refuse to establish an ASD classroom when requested to do so by the special education needs coordinators, SENO, working for the National Council for Special Education. As a result there is patchy and unbalanced access to education for children with autism. Some students, even in urban areas, are often forced to travel up to 20 km to school every day because local schools will not cater for their needs.

Many students who had access to an ASD classroom at primary school will not get one at second level because of the current gap in provision. Before Christmas I spoke at the first meeting of the campaign group Homeroom in Cork. The meeting was attended by hundreds of parents and teachers. The group has highlighted the fact that in the whole of County Cork there are just 81 ASD classrooms at primary level for 480 pupils and just 41 at secondary level. The difference in places at primary and secondary school, the Cork autism education gap, is 234. Nationally this gap affects 2,366 pupils. As a result some students will lose educational support as they transition from primary to second level. This uncertainty and even loss of access to education for children and young people with autism causes great stress to children who especially need consistency to thrive and learn and make progress in the world. A place in an ASD classroom can be more cost effective than a place in a special school or the cost required to support home schooling.

I believe the solution is to provide the National Council of Special Education, NCSE, with the necessary authority to instruct a school to open an ASD classroom. The NCSE requested this power in a 2015 policy paper, and the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 gives the Minister the opportunity to actually change the current draft to give that power and authority to the National Council of Special Education Need. This small change in the amendment - I gave the Minister a copy of it before I came in - would make a huge difference to those children with autism who are struggling to get access to education. I hope this will be taken up as the Bill goes through the Dáil, but if not I will be back to propose it. I would like to think that the Minister will spare me the effort by doing the sensible thing now and take on board this useful, simple and timely change to a Bill that is going through.