Brendan Smith urges change to special class enrolment rules
Brendan Smith welcomed new investment in special education and called for immediate amendment of enrolment thresholds that block smaller and denominational schools from opening special classes. He said children are travelling too far for placements and urged the Taoiseach to ensure local, sibling-friendly school placements for the next school year.
He welcomed the additional investment in special education and the establishment of more special classes, and praised the commitment of the relevant ministers. He argued that existing enrolment thresholds are too high and need to be amended now, particularly for the next school year, to protect the interests of smaller rural schools and denominational schools.
He highlighted the disproportionate disadvantage faced by smaller schools, noting that schools under the patronage of Protestant churches often have low enrolments and therefore struggle to meet thresholds. As a result, children can be forced to travel long distances for appropriate special class placements and may be unable to remain with siblings in the same school.
He referred to a specific school in County Cavern as an example of the problem and asked for assistance in addressing those local concerns. The example was used to illustrate how threshold rules can have direct, practical effects on families and local schools.
The Taoiseach thanked him for raising the issue and said he would raise the matter with the Minister for Education and the Minister for Special Education. The Taoiseach indicated he would discuss possible resolutions on thresholds and examine the particular school case that was identified.
Main requests
He welcomed the additional investment in special education and the establishment of more special classes, and praised the commitment of the relevant ministers. He argued that existing enrolment thresholds are too high and need to be amended now, particularly for the next school year, to protect the interests of smaller rural schools and denominational schools.
Impact on smaller and denominational schools
He highlighted the disproportionate disadvantage faced by smaller schools, noting that schools under the patronage of Protestant churches often have low enrolments and therefore struggle to meet thresholds. As a result, children can be forced to travel long distances for appropriate special class placements and may be unable to remain with siblings in the same school.
Local example raised
He referred to a specific school in County Cavern as an example of the problem and asked for assistance in addressing those local concerns. The example was used to illustrate how threshold rules can have direct, practical effects on families and local schools.
Government response and next steps
The Taoiseach thanked him for raising the issue and said he would raise the matter with the Minister for Education and the Minister for Special Education. The Taoiseach indicated he would discuss possible resolutions on thresholds and examine the particular school case that was identified.
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Transcript
I welcome the much needed additional investment in special education, the establishment of more special classes for children with additional needs, and also the commitment of Minister Miner and Minister McEntee to this very important area of education. Taoiseach, I raised previously with you the inequity that exists with the disadvantages suffered by smaller schools due to their difficulty in reaching the required enrolment threshold for special classes. This inequity also impacts severely on schools under the patronage of the smaller churches because by and large they have small enrolments. In far too many incidents, children have to travel too far to access special classes. Existing enrolment thresholds need to be amended now and particularly for the next school year to address the very legitimate interests and aspirations of our smaller rural schools and schools under the patronage of Protestant churches. Children should be facilitated with appropriate school placements as local to their home as is possible with realistic criteria and have siblings in the same school if at all possible and at the same time providing proper supports for these children. I spoke to you earlier about one particular school in County Cavern that I have concerns about and your assistance in addressing these issues will be much appreciated. Thank you. I thank you very much for raising what is an important issue and particularly in terms of smaller schools and smaller denominational schools of particular churches. It was the late Martin Manser who actually would have been very attentive to the needs of smaller schools in rural Ireland in the border areas in particular of a Protestant or Presbyterian where the numbers were low in terms of reformishments and that and we had big impact at the time. I will talk to the Minister for Education and the Minister for Special Education, Michael Moynihan, in respect of this issue. What you're saying is that the existing class thresholds are too high and I think there's an issue there whether we can come to some resolution or not. I will certainly talk to the Ministers to discuss that and also in terms of the specific school that you've identified with me. I'll certainly go through that with the Minister.