Special needs parents question official figures
The newly formed Special Needs Parents Association (SNPA) has called upon the Minster of Education and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to publish, in full, the report on the outcome of the review they took into the allocation of Special Needs Assistants in Ireland.
The parents' group, representing children with education difficulties, said the report needs to come with figures stating the number of SNA hours reduced during the review and the number of children who have had SNA hours reduced or increased.
It said that the fact that the NCSE published the report on special need positions, presented to an Oireachtas sub-committee on 11 March and, which formed the basis of the Minister's Dil speech on 31 March, conceals the true results of this review.
The SNPA also called for an independent appeals process immediately.
It said that in her speech the Minister said an independent Appeals Advisory Committee will be set up to review the appeals process.
This committee will meet in the autumn to review the operation of the appeals process, following the completion of the applications process for the 2010/11 academic year and it will then submit a report to the NCSE, which is advising the Minister on the cuts.
The SNPA spokesperson, Noel Cuddy, said: "While we welcome this new appeals process we feel that it is not justifiable that children and parents affected by the current review have no appropriate form of redress to the decisions implemented by the 'in-house' appeals process recently introduced by the NCSE besides taking legal action through the courts system. There is little point in the appeal process 'rubber-stamping' a process that is deficient for the children, their classmates and the families. We also call for assurances that this will be a truly independent committee with power," said Mr. Cuddy.
It is thought that around a hundred SNA position could be lost in Kildare but this week the NCSE told the Leader said it would not give the number of SNA's in Kildare schools and the cuts in each of them.
Last week we revealed that between four and five were being cut in St.
Raphael's Special School in Celbridge, alone.
Mr. Cuddy questioned the economic case for the cuts.
In the Dil last week, Deputy Eamong Gilmore said that logic that these cuts will somehow save money beats me because SNAs are relatively low paid. "One SNA informed me that he was paid n442 per week. If he loses his job and returns to social welfare, he will get n382 per week not counting any secondary benefits for which he might qualify. These cuts are a false economy which will save, at most, n50 or n60 per post. This must be weighed against the loss to the schools, children and families concerned."
Mr. Cuddy said once again his group are questioning the way the NCSE is assessing the needs of children with it comes to cuts and that it exposes the NCSE and the Department to the possibility of a legal challenge. "Some parents have been asked to get their child reassessed by a psychologist at considerable additional cost to families who have been failed by the State in the provision of these services," he said.
Mr. Cuddy concluded: "The previous Minister for Education and Science claimed that there was no question of SNA posts being removed from schools where they continued to meet the scheme's criteria. However, the kernel of the problem is the strict evaluation criteria under which the review is being conducted takes no account whatsoever of the child's needs, in terms of access to the curriculum. Instead, it only serves to further stigmatise the child by focusing on his or her disability."
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Thursday 17 May 2012
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