FAMILIES OF children with autism say a change in Government policy will make it much harder to appoint appropriate tutors to help their children reach their full potential.
Hundreds of parents currently avail of home-tuition grants for children with special needs or who suffer from chronic illnesses.
In most cases tuition is aimed at helping children communicate and learn social skills to give them the best chance of progressing or integrating into mainstream education when they are older.
Under apparent changes to the criteria for home-tuition grants from September, the department says its “preference will be for fully-qualified teachers”, such as a primary or secondary teachers with H Dip qualifications.
Fine Gael’s disability issues spokesman David Stanton TD said yesterday the impact of the decision would be that experienced tutors with autism-specific training – but who are not fully-qualified teachers – will not be able to work with children who need them.
“It is vitally important these people, who have training and experience in this area, are allowed to carry on the work they have been doing. The parents want them to continue with their work and are happy with them.”
He said fully-qualified teachers in many cases did not have the expertise needed to provide expert tuition to young children with special needs.
Other TDs have also supported calls for a review of the criteria, including Labour TDs Kathleen Lynch and Ciarán Lynch.
A spokesman for Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe insisted at the weekend that the list of acceptable qualifications for home-tuition providers had not changed.
“The inspectorate has advised that the preference is for a fully-qualified teacher with a recognised teaching qualification, a qualification in autism or a third-level qualification.”
He added that because home tuition takes place outside the normal school framework the department must ensure that tuition-providers are properly qualified. “It’s reasonable to expect that someone providing an education to a child in the child’s home outside the normal school structure is fully qualified,” the Minister’s spokesman said.
While the criteria states there is a “preference” for qualified teachers, correspondence between the department and families of children with autism indicates that stricter criteria are already being applied.
One letter from the department in response to an application states: “You must source a qualified teacher . . . I wish to point out that as an exceptional measure the department is willing to allow this tutor to deliver the tuition this year. However, please note this tutor will not be eligible for delivering this tuition next year.”