Minister fails to commit to providing an appropriate school place for every child
Minister fails to commit to providing an appropriate school place for every child - The Labour Party
Under questioning in the Dáil this morning from Labour’s education spokesperson Eoghan Kenny TD the Minister for Education could not clarify the number of children who require a special class or special school place for the coming academic year.
Deputy Kenny said:
“The Minister failed to provide the figure in relation to the number of classes that will be required to deal with the exponential growth in the number of children who require a special class.
“The Minister also failed to commit to saying that every child will be given an appropriate school place for the coming academic year.
“Any parent who happened to listen to the exchange this morning would not only be in a state of shock, but deep worry and panic.
“The Minister’s failure to answer specific questions posed to me on the plans for special education for the year ahead indicates that neither her nor her Department have a handle on the level of need that is clearly out there across the country.
“Earlier this year we saw the scandalous, out of touch move to take away SNA provision for children who need it most. How could this careless approach continue to be a feature of this Minister’s tenure?
“Children being left behind is simply not an option. The State has an obligation to provide every child with a fair start and it is failing to meet this.
“Labour has long called for a centralised system for applications for special education so that the State, the Department and the Minister can have a clear overview of the geographical spread of the level of need and plan accordingly. It would also end the scandal of parents being in constant battle with the State for the very fundamental right of access to education for their child.”