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You are > Home > Schools braced for loss of SNAs
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Thursday, March 04, 2010
Schools braced for loss of SNAs
SCHOOL PRINCIPALS across county Co. Wexford are bracing themselves for the imminent loss of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) after a spending review by the Department of Education.
According to Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe, the review is designed to identify “surplus posts, which do not meet the current criteria posts that have been retained when a pupil’s care needs have diminished or where the pupil has left”.
However, former Scoil Mhuire principal, and current president of the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN), Pat Goff, said the review was a “cost-cutting exercise”.
“One of the recommendations of the Bord Snip report was the axing of 2,000 SNA posts, which would save the Exchequer €60m. The Department is engaged in a costcutting exercise at the expense of children’s education.
“Some schools have already been reviewed, and others will be reviewed in the coming weeks but, based on the number of positions that have already been lost, we have estimated that 1,200 SNAs will imminently lose their jobs,” he said, adding that there are currently 10,000 SNAs employed in the nation’s primary and secondary schools with the vast majority, 8,000, working in primary schools.
Mr Goff said Scoil Mhuire currently has 29 SNAs and said the school was fearful that the number would soon be reduced.
“We have 18 children in our autistic unit, all of whom have their own SNAs, and there are a further 11 SNAs in mainstream classes. We cannot even get a guarantee that the 18 SNAs in the autistic unit will keep their jobs,” he said.
Mr. Goff said the manner of the Department’s review was also a cause of concern: “Essentially, an inspector comes into a classroom and stays for a short period of time.
Children with special needs cannot be assessed in an hour or two their condition can change from hour to hour or day to day everything needs to be taken into account. “Nobody knows their child better than parents so parents should have more of an input into this process,” he said.
The IPPN President said the Minister was being disingenuous when he said the Department’s review was designed to identify surplus posts which do not meet the current criteria.
“The Minister is telling us that he is only applying the circular but he is applying it so narrowly there is a very restrictive view of what constitutes special educational needs. I am concerned that there will be scant regard for children who need help accessing the curriculum and those children will fall behind,” he said.
Mr. Goff said the latest cutbacks, when coupled with the loss of English Language support teachers and an increase in class sizes, would impact on every child in a classroom.
“This will not just affect the children who will lose their SNAs the entire class will be impacted. Last year the Department halved the number of English Language Support teachers so we went from four teachers to two, even though the number of children who needed support did not change and now we face the loss of SNAs.
“Teachers are going to be left with very mixed classes and it will have a detrimental impact on the progress of children, many of whom, if they get extra support in primary school, become independent at secondary school,” he said.
The Department’s review, by the National Council for Special Education, is expected to be completed by the end of March.
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