Cap on Resources affects Special Needs Children - by Carol Gilbert
September 2005  (Previously published in the Southern Star)

A new quota based system, effective from the start of the new school term has cut back resources for special needs students in local schools. Throughout West Cork parents have arrived at school to find their children have either lost their special needs classroom assistant altogether or had hours cut. During the past week the situation has been confusing with some children having the decision reversed and their classroom support reinstated, partially or completely.

FG Cork County Councillor and Principal of Skibbereen Gaelscoil, Mr Jim Daly commented, “My heart goes out to parents with children who have special needs and who have to witness their child being denied extra resources in the name of cutbacks. The new weighted model is putting a cap on the amount of resources available for special needs students. Contrary to what the Minister and his Department want us to believe, this represents a further cutback in allocation of resources to deal with special needs students. The Minister’s actions run contrary to the Education for Persons with Special Needs Act, which was only signed into law seven weeks ago. Section 4 of this Act clearly states that any assessment should involve matters that affect the child overall as an individual. I am sure I speak for principals everywhere when I say how disappointed I am with this latest retrograde step in dealing with students with special needs. This is a very cynical attack on the most vulnerable in society and I personally am deeply angered by the situation. I hope the “think tank” in West Cork provides the current Government with a chance to sit back and reconsider the children with special education needs in our schools and perhaps in the wake of a reshuffle, the education department will be headed up by someone who is prepared to acknowledge the shambles, the special needs section of the department really is.”

CoAction CEO, Mr Richard Morton confirmed the changes in provision, saying, “We are closely monitoring the situation and working on the health side of it and obviously liaising with the Department of Education. There is a level of confusion and a lack of clarity from the Department of Education which has resulted in CoAction receiving an increase in the numbers of queries from parents who do not know what is happening. This is causing them stress at a time when they need security, confidence and comfort.”

However South West FF TD, Mr Denis O’Donovan said, “I believe that some of the parents who had a problem with cutbacks in the provision of special needs support for their children have had their situation resolved within the past week. I would hope the others would be resolved within the next few weeks. I have made representations to the Minister, on at least three occasions, that the government should grasp the mettle of the whole issue of disabilities. I have always made a case for CoAction West Cork, saying they deserve support.”

One school principal warned that the full impact of cutbacks within the disability sector had yet to be felt, reporting that their school had received no decision regarding applications for resource assistance with effect from February 2003. Future applications will no longer be made on an individual child’s behalf and each school will be allocated a learning support teacher who will have to deal with all children with a borderline disability. Disabilities, such as dyslexia, would previously have been addressed by a resource teacher. This will change with the child having to share the hours and time allocated to a learning support teacher.