PUPILS WHO require special needs support should be accommodated in special needs classes, a forthcoming report from the National Council for Special Education will recommend.
The report says the inclusion of pupils in mainstream classes should not be used as a reason to withdraw special classes when still required. This appears at odds with a decision last year by Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe to abolish more than 120 special needs classes for over 500 pupils.
Speaking in Cork yesterday Mr O’Keeffe suggested the number of special needs assistants leaving the system might now by far less than the figure originally estimated.
“We did a survey of 100 schools on a value-for-money [basis] and the inspectors found that there were schools where the special needs child had moved on and the special needs assistant (SNA) was doing work other than assisting special needs.
‘‘We decided we would take a full review and that review is being undertaken by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) now.”
Mr O’Keeffe emphasised that he was simply seeking to have the SNA criteria adhered to by schools in a bid to secure maximum value for money for the taxpayer.
“Some of those (SNAs) are being taken out of the system but, in the interim period, all schools know that they are under review and that this is continuing until March 31st,” he said.
An INTO spokesman said special schools and special classes were a vital part of the national educational infrastructure.
“Not every child with mild general learning disabilities can manage in large classes, even with periods of one-to-one teaching from a resource teacher.”
The new report says special classes have a number of key advantages in: facilitating inclusion within the mainstream class; providing a “safe haven” for some pupils; a favourable pupil/teacher ratio; enabling pupils to remain in their local area; and providing flexibility in organising teaching and curriculum provision.
The report says only 25 to 33 per cent of teachers working with pupils with special educational needs have undertaken specialist training at diploma level or higher.
Some special schools lack the resources and/or the expertise to support mainstream schools, and there is a lack of continuity between special class provision in primary and post-primary schools.
The report is being compiled by Dr Jean Ware of Bangor University, Wales, and Dr Joseph Travers, director of the special education department, St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra.