Madam, – I wish to voice my anger at the latest in a series of cutbacks in education. Ruairí Quinn’s decision to cut resource teaching hours,which are allocated to children with special needs, is a very negative move (Home News, June 2nd). The hallmark of any civilised society is the way in which its most vulnerable citizens are treated. A cut of 10 per cent in a child’s resource or learning support allocation may not seem like much, but this time is invaluable as it is used to target the child’s specific difficulties, facilitating the inclusion of a child with special needs in a mainstream school.
To date, we have had cuts in supports to Travellers, cuts in special needs assistant numbers, cuts in support given to children for whom English is a second language, and now cuts to children with special needs and children receiving learning support. This leaves the classroom teacher to cope with all of these children without adequate support. The demands on the time and expertise of the classroom teacher will have an effect on all of the children in the class.
For many parents, the dream of seeing their child with special needs attend a mainstream school,along with his siblings, is one that will not now be possible as all the resources are being stripped from our education system. – Yours, etc,