MINISTER FOR Education Batt O’Keeffe is under growing pressure to rescind his controversial decision to cut special teacher support for over 530 children with mild general learning disabilities.
The surprise move, which has unleashed a storm of protest, will yield less than €7 million in annual savings for the department from a total budget of €9 billion, according to the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO).
Unusually, the 119 schools in question were informed of the cutback by letter on Tuesday morning without any prior consultation between the department and the INTO or special needs teachers. The union is seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister, in a bid to reverse the decision.
On RTÉ's News at Oneyesterday, Mr O'Keeffe said he did not know exactly how much money the measure would save annually. Fine Gael education spokesman Brian Hayes said the "unforgivable" move was an "attack" on the most vulnerable pupils in the school system.
He said “additional and unsustainable pressure” will be put on existing mainstream classes, which would “inhibit the rights of all children to a decent education”.
Labour equality spokeswoman Kathleen Lynch accused the department of abandoning children with special needs.
INTO general secretary John Carr said he was “shocked” at what he called an “indefensible” decision. “On a day when €8 billion is being provided to bail out banks, the Department of Education is axing €7 million in funding to special needs children,” he said.
“The decision was made purely on financial grounds. The National Council for Special Education has commissioned a report on special classes. Yet before this is published, the whole infrastructure is being pulled down. It is certainly not being made on educational grounds.”
Mr O’Keeffe said 534 children in 128 primary school classes would be affected when the move was implemented in the next school year.
The pupils would now be taught by mainstream teachers in regular classes. He wrote to the schools to inform them the positions were being cut due to the falling numbers of pupils with special needs in the classes. In the case of classes for mild general learning disability, a minimum of nine pupils is required to retain a teaching post.
Yesterday, Mr O’Keeffe said 50 of the schools earmarked had four pupils or less in their special needs class.
When the children are moved to mainstream classes, they will still have special needs assistants and access to a resource or support teacher, he insisted.
“There isn’t any massive change . . . There are hundreds of similar kids right around that have been integrated into mainstream classes,” he said.
The department said 80 of the 119 schools affected had reduced class sizes under various disadvantaged schemes, and 17 of these would gain an additional post when pupils were divided among mainstream classes.
Ms Lynch said Labour has supported educating children with special needs within the mainstream school system.
“Ending vital services for these children is inexplicable, but denying them the opportunity to flourish in school is unforgivable,” she said, adding that their classmates would suffer and a further burden would be placed on overstretched mainstream teachers.