Mary Lou McDonald slams decision to axe special needs teachers in north
4 January, 2006
Sinn Féin National Chairperson and MEP for Dublin Mary Lou McDonald has
today criticised the findings of a survey, which reported that eighteen
schools in the north inner city lost special needs teachers or their
equivalent in teaching hours since the introduction of a new system in
allocation from September 2005.
Ms McDonald said that such a situation ‘flew in the face of attempts to
tackle educational disadvantage in Ireland and particularly in working
class areas of Dublin’.
Speaking today Ms McDonald said:
“This survey of school principals in inner city Dublin has shone a light
on how this government treats educationally disadvantaged areas of the
capital, and in particular the north inner city area which has suffered
disproportionately through the loss of high skilled Special Educational
Needs (SEN) teachers.
“Under the new system introduced in September whole communities have
effectively been disadvantaged. It is completely unacceptable that in the
north inner city alone, there is a net loss of eight Special Educational
Needs teachers or the equivalent in teaching resources affecting eighteen
schools. There is already a huge shortfall in special education needs
teaching in our primary schools, and the new ‘weighting system’ has only
compounded the problem.
“SEN teachers are a vital component in the delivery of a first class
educational system through assisting children with varying levels of
ability and need. This government must place less emphasis on cold hard
statistics and more on the educational needs of whole communities.” ENDS
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