Statement by John Carr, General Secretary, Irish National Teachers' Organization, on Special Needs Education

4 April, 2004

Primary schools need more, not fewer special needs teachers.

There are more than six thousand pupils whose needs have been identified for over a year who are not getting any extra support in school. There are thousands of others whose needs have not yet been formally assessed due to a shortage of psychologists and other services.

Changing the way teachers are allocated to schools may well result in a minority of schools losing teachers. In some schools some pupils with special needs have moved on to second level. This means that there may be spare teaching hours. But in most schools there are children awaiting assessment and special needs teaching and who cannot get it because of the way the process is organised at present. This means that a majority of schools need extra teachers.

The INTO has argued for change in the way special needs resources are allocated to schools. At present it is high on paperwork and delay and short on delivery. But changing the way in which special needs resources are provided has the potential to create havoc in the system if not properly managed and resourced. The current number of teachers will not be enough to ensure an equitable system. The INTO has examined the level of prevalence of special needs in this and other countries. Irish primary schools need a further 1,000 teachers.

There are genuine and well founded fears among many parents and teachers that what is being planned is a reduction in special educational provision. Teachers and parents who have witnessed the inertia of the last twelve months are fearful that change will produce the worst of all the cutbacks planned and implemented by this Government since it has taken office.

The INTO wants to be constructive and wants to improve the provision of resources to special needs pupils. Primary teachers want to eliminate bureaucracy, to bring certainty in relation to resource provision and to meet the needs of children in our schools.

But teachers will not be a party to a cutback.

Ends.

For further information please contact Peter Mullan, Press Officer on 086 2643 558