Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)
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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.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, 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 to have the opportunity, provided by Senator O'Reilly, to deal with the matter.

The Senator will be well 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 is 11:1. The Department 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 school in question has two special classes and the enrolment totals 14. The minimum enrolment required to retain the second class has therefore not been fulfilled and the school no longer qualifies to retain the second special class.

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 the 119 schools from which the teaching posts are being removed received allocations under the general allocation model of teaching support. These schools therefore have been resourced for the categories of pupils in question.

It is important to note that 3,000 schools that 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 mild classes and mainstreamed the pupils, with the associated loss of the mild special class post.

The pupils from the 128 classes will be placed in mainstream classes and will receive support from their class teacher. All of them will benefit from the support available through the schools general allocation model. As I said, the other primary schools in the country that do not have classes for children with mild general learning disability cater for these pupils from within the general allocation model.

As the Minister stated, he is open to listening to proposals from schools in which they 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 resource teacher. I understand that correspondence has been received in the Department from the school in relation to the mild class, and officials will be in direct contact with it shortly in this regard.

There has been unprecedented investment in recent years in providing supports for children with special needs. There are now about 19,000 adults in our schools working solely with children with special needs. There are more than 8,000 resource and learning support teachers compared with 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

I take this opportunity to emphasise that priority will continue to be given to provision for children with special educational needs. As I 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 of providing schools with supports for children with high incidence special needs through the general allocation model.

Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The one hopeful aspect is in the third paragraph, which states that the Department officials will look at the case in hand. Children are coming in from a number of schools in the area. They have been considered in the normal allocation and the difficulty is that it is not a runner to have children aged seven and 14 in the one class. There is a very well developed special class in this school and it is the only such location in east Cavan. I again appeal to the Minister to look specifically at this case and at individual pupils. Those who have to go back to their own schools will not be able to manage in those environments. For that reason I ask the Minister and his officials to look seriously at that. I hope there is some ray of hope in that the Department officials will be in contact with the school.