WEST Cork school principals have said their most vulnerable pupils will be worst impacted as a new process means their special education teacher (set) hours will be drastically reduced from September.
Up until now, set hours were assigned on the number of pupils assessed by the HSE as having complex needs, enrolment, social disadvantage, standardised test results and gender.
However, from September, they will be assigned on standardised test results (sten scores) and enrolment numbers.
The Department of Education says its new model will ‘use school-based data, rather than relying on HSE data’.
However, one local principal who did not wish to be named, said the government was not catering for children with additional needs or ‘education, full stop’.
‘This measure will force parents’ hands, into putting their children into special classes or ASD units, instead of integrated education. It’s taking that choice from them,’ the principal said.
‘We were down two-and-a-half set hours last year, and it’s the same this year, which effectively means we’re down a full day. This country is supposed to be flush with cash, but in this day and age, we shouldn’t have to fight for something like this. Funding for primary schools has been cut across the board. Yes, there are free school books, but there’s no funding to keep the lights on in schools – primary education system is on its knees.’
Another West Cork principal said they were effectively being punished for working hard to improve the school’s literacy and numeracy profiles.
‘A school’s greatest resource is its teachers, and if we don’t have them, the children are losing out, and in this case the most vulnerable children who will be most impacted,’ the principal said. ‘Taoiseach Simon Harris said he wanted to make Ireland the best country in the world for children to grow up in – this is a strange way of going about it.’
The Department of Education insists the new process ‘rectifies the inequality’ of the old model ‘where pupils with special educational needs were not fully supported and where the needs of all students with complex needs could not be taken into account due to inconsistent HSE data’.
However, FF TD for Cork South West Christopher O’Sullivan, who raised the issue in the Dáil, said ‘it doesn’t make sense’ adding that the new criteria to allocate hours were ‘flawed’.
‘Why is everything a battle when it comes to the schools getting basic services for the most vulnerable children? This country is supposed to be flush with money, surely this is the last thing we should be doing?’ he said.
The National Principals’ Forum has launched a petition to reverse the decision which so far has over 7,200 signatures.
