The Minister for Education has been called on to provide alternative support for children with special needs following cuts to special needs assistants which came into force last week.
The call was made by Fine Gael TD Michael Ring. “Through the Government policy of inclusion, the idea behind the SNA was to give the special needs child a 'level playing field' or, at best, a reasonable chance of keeping up with the mainstream,” Dep Ring said. “The Minister must state and account for how this can happen in the absence of the SNA. He has put no other support in place. It is not fair to expect the teacher to cope alone. In fact with some teachers having three to four children with special needs in a mainstream class it is just not possible.”
According to Deputy Ring the Education Minister has failed to provide parents and teachers with alternative methods of teaching and managing special needs children once the SNAs have been withdrawn from the education system. “In the majority of cases these children need one-on-one attention in order to keep up with the rest of the classroom. The absence of SNAs in the classroom is unfair on everyone - the special needs child, the other children in the classroom, and the teachers,” he added.
“Furthermore, the Minister must also be made accountable for how these children’s education rights will be met. How are they expected to be able to keep up with the rest of the class when, up until now, they have had extra one-on-one assistance? The SNAs have received special training and have built up a relationship with the child with whom they work. To expect teachers to teach an entire class and also meet the needs of a special needs child is unacceptable and everyone will suffer as a consequence.
“This is just another case of innocent, vulnerable, children being the target of savage cuts for the sins of this Fianna Fáil Government. This is an outrage,” concluded Dep Ring.
