Ó Murchú fears for teaching posts in Louth

Changes in the way Special Education Teacher (SET) hours are calculated for primary schools will have a negative effect on students, Dundalk TD Ruairí Ó Murchú has said.

The Sinn Féin TD was one of three deputies who raised the issue of SET hours during a Topical Issue debate with Minister of State Josepha Madigan last week in Leinster House.

Deputy Ó Murchú said: “I happened to meet representatives of Scoil Mhuire na nGael in this House and they said they initially thought they may lose the equivalent of two teaching positions and they will definitely lose one.

“Fiona Mhic Chonchoille of Scoil Naomh Lorcan, Omeath says special education teachers were at their wits’ end. She says: “The new model is based on academic results and does not take into account [complex needs].

“The Department will say it is up to the principal to give out SET hours but they do not have enough hours allocated so they either help the children with special or additional needs or they just help those children below the tenth percentile with maths and English.

“The new model has not enough hours allocated for both. We are hearing about increased numbers (of teachers) but we are not seeing it.

“We are talking about kids with complex needs who at this point in time might be scoring highly in maths and English, but if they do not get the supports on the basis of their complex needs, as other speakers have said, they will be forced into special schools. We need to look at these anomalies and deal with this.”

Minister Madigan said there had been sufficient engagement ahead of the changes and denied there would be cuts to special education hours in schools.

She said: “I must refute the assertion that has been made to me on numerous occasions that there was no engagement or insufficient or improper engagement.

“Thirty meetings have been held as part of this development process and 12 of those consultation sessions were held with education partners. A review process is available. This new model provides a solid foundation for a roadmap of continuous enhancement over the coming years.

“No complex needs hours have been removed from the model. The hours have been reapportioned as an indicator of educational need.

“Complex needs are measured in two ways. First, those students who are performing at the lower levels in standardised tests that indicate the greatest level of need for additional learning support and, second, the pupils with more complex needs and who have been exempted are given the highest weighting within the model.”

But Deputy Ó Murchú said: “We could all name parents and multiple schools who think they will be detrimentally affected by the hours that they require to provide the supports for children with special educational needs.

“On the basis of what the INTO and others have said, and even the information we have put forward, we must look at these cases from the point of view of not being able to deliver and that children will not get the resources they require.

“We need to have flexibility, particularly when dealing with children with complex needs who are being failed across the board.”