PEOPLE PROTESTING against cuts in the number of special needs assistants (SNAs) and in resource teachers’ hours gathered again outside the Dáil yesterday.
Some 300 parents, teachers, children and community representatives marched from the Central Bank in Dublin to the Dáil gates, where a similar protest took place in July.
Many of those partaking in yesterday’s march expressed frustration that no progress had been made since the last demonstration.
“I think view has even hardened at this stage. They are quite determined to push through with these cuts which are setting us back 25 years in the educational system,” said Philip Mullen, assistant general secretary of the Impact trade union.
“I’m not sure where we go from here – we will just keep up the fight to continue to lobby for this. Our own internal research would show that there is no major saving in what the Government is doing – that if our children ultimately end up back in special education that they will cost just as much.”
Parents of the affected children were voicing their concerns that the impacts of the cuts were unavoidable for them now that children were back in school after the summer.
“My little son is up in the school three years and he was coming on so well with the SNA,” said Seán Breen, whose six-year-old son Tadhg who has autism, attends St Senan’s Primary School in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford,
“His problems would be that he has very poor concentration. With a one-to-one they are able to keep him to his work desk – now he has to share an SNA, so if the SNA is trying to work with the other child he is just going to disrupt the class.”
Joan Laverty, a former SNA at Griffin Valley Educate Together school in Lucan, Dublin, who is now unemployed because of the cuts, criticised the Government comments on shared access.
“Unless Ruairí has come up with some new directive to train an SNA to miraculously manifest themselves in two places at once, the option of access is a farce.”
Martin Collins of Pavee Point said Travellers were hit particularly hard by the cuts, as all of their support systems had been removed.
“From beginning of this term, all of the resource teachers for Travellers have been discontinued, which number approximately 600, plus 42 visiting teacher posts – they too have been discontinued. These measures will have a devastating effect on Travellers’ participation and attainment levels in the mainstream education, and our life chances are very poor as it is,” he said.