Seanad debates

Monday, 8 February 2021

Special Education Provision: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of John CumminsJohn Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I put on record my thanks to the Minister of State, her Department and her staff for the significant work and commitment that they have put in, night and day. I know that from the communications that we have had. They have worked to get students with additional needs back to in-person learning in the classroom. I have worked in this area for many years as a secondary school PE teacher. We have made significant strides as a nation in integrating students with additional needs into the mainstream school setting. That has been a positive experience for staff and students in the wider school population and for students with additional needs. I have seen first hand the toughest of students take students with additional needs under their wings in that PE setting to help them to progress in class. That has been great for them. It has created empathy. It has nearly done more for that student than it has for the student with additional needs and it is heartening to see.

The fact that we are getting students back to in-person learning is positive. It cannot be understated, as other Senators have said. School closures have had a serious impact on our youth and their families. Everybody has been inundated with correspondence and communications from families who have struggled badly. One of the main lessons that we have taken from Covid-19 and the school closures is that we must prioritise the most vulnerable in society. That includes students with additional needs and older people. That is what we are attempting to do as a Government.

I would like to focus on the students who we are not quite getting to at present. I have spoken to the Minister of State about secondary school students. I emphasise the importance of catering for those students in mainstream and specialised settings. We have a fantastic new autism spectrum disorder facility in the school that I taught in, St. Paul's Community College in Waterford, which opened in September and which the Minister of State is more than welcome to visit when Covid and time allow.

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