Psychological assessment - we're failing to meet pupils' needs

EQUALITY IN EDUCATION: Under-resourced, under-funded, under- staffed. Anne Byrne reports on the sorry state of our educational psychology services.

Try this for a scenario: You're the principal of a primary school in Dublin's north inner-city. The school has been designated disadvantaged and, in your opinion and the opinion of the class teachers, many of your pupils require assessment by an educational psychologist.

You are given 2.4 days of a psychologist's time per 100 pupils per year. An assessment for one child can take up to two days. You have a list of pupils whom you think would benefit from assessment and subsequent intervention.

You have to decide who to send for assessment and which pupils' needs you will sideline. Pupils who have already been "lucky" enough to be assessed may need their progress and programmes reviewed. What do you do?

You can compile a waiting list, and stuff it in a drawer, in the knowledge that many of those on this list will never be seen by an educational psychologist. You can shift the burden and ask parents to come up with the money for private assessments - although you know that assessments cost more than €250 and most of them simply don't have the money. You can lobby local businesses, banks and the wider community and ask for donations. You can talk to the St Vincent de Paul.

Eileen Adams, principal of Rutland Street National School, in Dublin's north inner city, tries to deal with each child as if he or she were her own. This means that the Monday after she spoke to EL, an educational psychologist will visit the school to assess a child on a private basis. The bill will be paid by funds raised from the local business community. "I tell them it's one of the best investments they can make. It directly affects a child's life," she says.

Seamus Boyle, the principal of O'Connell Primary School, has compiled a report on behalf of nine inner-city schools (O'Connell Primary School, St Vincent's Girls' School, St Vincent's Infant Boys' School, Gardiner Street School, Rutland Street School, Rutland Street Pre-school, Central Model Junior School, Central Model Senior School and Scoil Caoimhín).

The report states that, in any one year, St Vincent's Girls' School could have three assessments,

O'Connell and Gardiner Street could have two each. The other six schools could have one each. That means a total of 13 assessments for the area.

"At the present rate of 13 pupils or so per year from the National Educational Psychological Service it would take 20 years to see to all those currently in need and by the time their turn came, the vast majority of them would have long since left school and be in their mid to late 20s," notes the report.

This is the Republic of Ireland in 2002, the country that boasts of the excellence of its education system. This is the State that the IDA routinely boasts can provide a steady supply of third-level graduates to multinationals.

SADLY, it is also the country where many socio-economically disadvantaged students are also educationally disadvantaged, where third-level is not an aspiration of which many inner-city children conceive.

As the report says: "the principals and teachers have concerns. The pupils have needs. We cannot access the supports necessary for our pupils because of the failure of NEPs to deliver an appropriate service.

"There is much talk of breaking the cycle of educational disadvantage. At the moment, the best that can be said is that some minor dents are appearing in the cycle."

That report was compiled in 2001. Seamus Boyle says little has changed.

With a general election looming, the schools invited their local TDs to attend a meeting late last month. The problems were outlined and three key demands made.

These include an adequate psychological service, an extension of the 15 to one pupil-teacher ratio to all classes (at present, it applies in junior classes only) and the abolition of teaching principals, who have to juggle classroom work with administration.

Eileen Adams is loud in her praise of the psychologist who works with her school. But she would like to see psychology services available on demand.

"This would mean that, following consultation with parents, I could pick up the phone and have the demands met as needed. There would be no waiting lists."

She says there currently five psychologists attached to the eight schools. Each of these psychologists has more than 20 schools on his or her books. She says it would be far better to have one psychologist assigned to the eight schools, as he or she could build up a relationship with the school staff as well as expertise in the particular problems these schools share.

On the plus side, she says NEPS is providing an in-service course for 16 teachers in the north inner city. This excellent course has been over-subscribed, although it is held in the afternoons outside school hours. More of these courses are needed, says Adams.

The needs of many schools in socio-economically disadvantaged areas far outweigh the needs in schools with more middle-class catchments.

In a recent visit to Jobstown, Tallaght, Co Dublin, the same problems with accessing the psychological service were outlined. It's not just an inner-city or urban problem.

Róisín Shortall TD recently put a parliamentary question to the Minister for Education and Science asking for his views on recent reports that the Society of St Vincent de Paul are frequently asked to provide financial assistance to families who need a psychological assessment for a child.

She also asked whether the funding mechanism militated against school in disadvantaged areas, where a far higher percentage of students would have difficulties.

In his lengthy reply, Minister Woods stated that it was his intention that "a full psychological service should be made available to all children in schools, free of cost, as soon as practically possible.

"A full educational psychological service to schools includes programmes of screening, early intervention and systematic work as well as an assessment service where appropriate."

Richard Bruton TD recently posed another parliamentary question as to the total number of psychological assessments being conducted by NEPS per year at present and his estimate of the total number of children who currently need to have an assessment, as well as the systems in place to ensure that appropriate support services are made available to children who have not yet been assessed.

Minister Woods replied that the number of full psychological services carried out by NEPS varies considerably from year to year due to the rapid rate of expansion of the service.

During the course of the school year 2000/2001, the number of NEPS psychologists working in the schools almost doubled and is now standing at half the ultimate target.