Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD has expressed concern at the level of resources allocated for children with special educational needs in new and developing schools across the state, following the publication of the Department of Education’s 2021/22 staffing schedule for primary schools.

Teachta Ó Laoghaire said:

“The Department’s staffing schedule for this year simply maintains the existing special education teacher allocations for all schools for the next school year. There has been no effort to increase these supports.

“The allocations are done on the basis of a school profiling exercise, which only takes place every two years. This does not match the reality that for new and developing schools, the number of pupils with additional educational needs are increasing year on year.

“I am concerned that new and developing schools are going to suffer as a result. In many instances, the allocation of special education resources does not reflect the current number of children within the school requiring support, meaning that many children with special educational needs miss out.

“This is not good enough. The Minister needs to recognise the reality of the ever-growing population in new and developing schools, and act urgently to ensure that children with special educational needs in these schools aren’t being disadvantaged. “