PARENTS, TEACHERS and relatives of pupils at a unique school for children with autism in Cork held a demonstration yesterday before delivering a petition calling for a reversal of cutbacks.
Proposed cuts would reduce special needs assistants (SNAs) at Sonas Special Junior Primary School in Carrigaline – which caters for preschool children – by 25 per cent.
Stuart O’Mahony’s four-year- old daughter Amy is a pupil at the school. He said early intervention was vital in preparing children for primary education.
“Sonas is the only school of its kind in the State: this is why we are pushing so hard against these cuts. The service is based on early intervention and takes in children from the age of three and sets them up for either mainstream school or ASD units and special schools. It’s different from any other school in the country in that sense.”
A petition with more than 3,155 signatures, together with 554 online supporters of the school, was delivered to the office of Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney in Carrigaline, following yesterday’s demonstration at the nearby Owenabue car park.
The school has a successful transfer rate of school-leavers to mainstream schools, with six of 14 school-leavers progressing to mainstream schools this year.
There are 16 SNAs with 24 children at Sonas, but the Department is proposing to cut four posts