Plan to create special education centres ‘dead in the water’, say Government sources

A controversial plan to create special educational needs centres for children without school places is “dead in the water”, Government sources have said.

The plan, disclosed in The Irish Times last week, involved establishing five centres in the Dublin area on a temporary basis to provide an education for dozens of vulnerable children who have not yet secured a special class place in a mainstream school.

The plan met fierce criticism from campaigners and human rights groups who said it amounted to “segregated education” and would undermine attempts to create an inclusive education system.

Minister of State for Special Education Josepha Madigan is due to meet disability groups on Tuesday to discuss the proposal, among other issues.

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However, a Government source said the scale of criticism showed there was now “no public support” for the proposal.

“There isn’t support from advocacy groups, the Opposition and there are also concerns within Government,” said the source.

Minister for Education Norma Foley is understood to have raised questions over details of the proposal last week before it was made public, sources said.

“She had concerns over the implications for inclusion and made that clear in a meeting attended by the [Department of Education] general secretary and others,” said a Government source. “It was just a proposal, as far as she was concerned, and didn’t meet the standards for what the Department of Education would stand over.”

A spokesperson for Ms Madigan was not immediately available for comment. She said last Thursday that the proposal was something she wanted to explore further with disability groups this week. “It was very much in its infancy and I think it is really important to stress that in any department there are a number of different proposals, a number of different ideas that come about at any given stage,” she said.

Ms Madigan said that it was about offering parents an “option” and was something she wanted to explore further. She asked disability groups she met on Thursday to come back with more proposals.

“I think we need to look at this and explore it and interrogate it further and try to use the ETB [education and training] centres that they are offering. This is not to replace a special class. This is not a placement,” she told RTÉ's Six-One.

In advance of Tuesday’s meeting, campaign groups have again voiced their opposition to any plan involving special education centres.

“It has been clear since they were first mooted that they are not an appropriate solution to this avoidable crisis,” said Adam Harris, chief executive of AsIAm, an autism charity. “They are not rights-compliant and would do more harm than good, for children and the education system.”

He said it was time to focus on proposals that will deliver suitable school places for autistic children and others indeed of appropriate school places.

AsIAm, along with a coalition of disability groups, is calling for emergency legislation to compel schools to open up special classes in time for next September. The groups argue that existing powers – known as the 37a process – are too slow and bureaucratic and will not deliver appropriate school places in time.

Last week, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission also expressed concern over the special education centres proposal.