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Irish Times
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Mother rails against ‘broken system' after special needs child shunned by 60 schools
Families of children with special needs say the 'education system is broken' with many unable to access school places or support needed to help pupils with basic care needs. Charlotte Cahill, whose daughter with additional needs turns six soon, told the Oireachtas education committee on Wednesday that she received more than 60 rejected admission applications from schools over the last two years. This was despite assurances at the time from government ministers that every child known to education authorities would receive a school place. 'After legal action, my daughter was finally allocated a section 67 place, bypassing others on the waiting list. This highlights the ongoing crisis many families face,' she said. READ MORE Ms Cahill, a member of the Equality in Education campaign, said the experience of parents of children with additional needs reflects a system under severe pressure and struggling to function effectively. 'While educators and frontline staff are deeply committed, urgent structural reforms are needed to ensure all children with additional needs can access inclusive, timely, and appropriate education,' she said. In addition, she said the allocation model for special needs assistants (SNAs) and special education teachers was deeply flawed. 'Parents are often excluded from meaningful participation, despite being the most consistent voices for their children,' she said. A focus on meeting primary care needs in SNA allocations meant neurodivergent children – who experience high levels of dysregulation, anxiety, or sensory overload – were being denied SNA support. Rebecca Meehan, whose son has additional needs, said the education system was constantly firefighting with little planning or choice for parents. 'Families are often encouraged to accept whatever place they are offered, regardless of suitability,' she said. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) told the committee that it was working closely with schools and patrons to speed up the allocation of school places for children with additional needs, with almost 400 special classes sanctioned before Easter. The NCSE is also supporting the establishment of five new special schools in Dublin, Monaghan, Tipperary and Cork. The council's chief executive, John Kearney, said progress was going 'very well' in offering places to pupils, but was unable to tell TDs how many children are without a school place. Minister for Education Helen McEntee told the Dáil recently that 92 per cent of the 3,275 students with a recommendation for a special class or special school place for September 2025 have been allocated a school place. When asked by Socialist Party TD Ruth Coppinger if this meant up to 260 pupils were without a place, Mr Kearney said the Minister was due to brief the Cabinet shortly on placements. Ms Coppinger responded: 'We're dealing with parents who don't have school places ... I absolutely appreciate the pressure you are under ... but we should be privy to this information.' The Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) told the committee that resourcing of schools has not kept pace with growing demands on the system. 'Furthermore, pressures are being brought to bear on some schools to open additional special classes when other schools in the same catchment area do not have any,' said IPPN chief executive Páiric Clerkin. Some schools, he said, were being pressured to admit a seventh or eighth child into special classes designed for six children. 'This is inequitable and unfair,' he said. At the very least, he said, schools require additional teachers and other supports to meet the needs of the children until a new special class place opens up, or a new special class is built.
Irish Times
08-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Teachers want religion out of the classroom. Here's what has to happen next
Religious faith formation plays a major role in Ireland's taxpayer-funded primary education system. This is highly unusual in a democratic country, and teachers are making their voices heard on the issue. About 90 per cent of primary schools are controlled by the Catholic Church. Sacramental preparation for Confession, Communion and Confirmation presents challenges for teachers, especially those who don't share the faith. A recent survey by the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) uncovered some interesting findings and related recommendations from an INTO taskforce, which have given the union plenty of homework. The survey asked 34 questions related to religion in schools. Seventy seven per cent of respondent teachers said schools should have no responsibility at all for preparing children for the sacraments, while only 4 per cent thought it should be left to the primary school. A vast amount of class time is dedicated to sacramental preparation, with knock-on effects for other subjects in an already overloaded curriculum. Communion and Confirmation practice eat into the school day for months in advance, ramping up as the day approaches. [ Ireland an 'outlier' in requiring religious certs to teach in most primary schools Opens in new window ] But for many teachers there is also the gnawing issue of the children who are left out. Ireland has changed as a society – children come from a wide variety of backgrounds. In so many ways, our schools are places of inclusiveness and understanding, but this goes out the window when it comes to religion. Children from outside the shrinking Catholic mainstream can find themselves excluded for lengthy periods, or forced to set their own identity aside. READ MORE With no guidance from the Minister for Education, Helen McEntee, few – if any – schools have found a satisfactory way to cater for the many children not partaking in sacramental preparation. These children tend to find themselves herded together and assigned pointless busywork for what adds up to a huge amount of class time. Then on the 'big day' they sit on the sidelines and watch as their peers get dressed up and enjoy their celebration. Many teachers feel conflicted about their role in this institutionalised othering. The INTO taskforce has recommended that the union work to move sacramental preparation outside the school day. However, the recommendation that it 'engage with' religious patrons in this regard seems like it is starting in the wrong direction. Shouldn't fundamental decisions on the curriculum primarily involve the Minister for Education? Elsewhere, some of the taskforce's recommendations don't appear to me to make much sense. On the simple question of 'should faith formation take place in primary schools?' 33 per cent of respondents said they 'teach religion willingly'; 19.5 per cent said they would prefer not to have to teach it and 19 per cent said 'I would teach a broad religious education willingly', but would prefer not to have to teach it in a particular faith. Yet, other than the issue of sacramental preparation, faith formation in schools seems to have been largely ignored by the taskforce. In almost 90 per cent of schools, the Catholic faith is supposed to be taught for 30 minutes every single day. This is more time than history, geography and science combined. Then there are daily prayers, trips to church, clerical visits and more. As with sacramental preparation, the Department of Education has provided no guidance on how schools should accommodate non-Catholic children during these times. In truth, in most schools, the 'opted-out' children just sit there – sometimes colouring a picture, sometimes doodling with a puzzle book, listening to every word regardless – segregated, othered and marked as different. The obvious answer, surely, is simply to move faith formation outside the school day and let families 'opt-in', should they wish. This is an inclusive solution that could not offend anyone. The INTO taskforce has inexplicably ignored the responses on faith formation in the survey and based most of its recommendations on the failed policy of divestment. There are obvious reasons divestment, pursued by successive governments since 2012, has failed. First, it is logistically and financially impossible to build a school system where all families will have access to a school that aligns with their religious outlook. Second, and more importantly, building an entire balkanised school system on a foundation of religious difference among children is patently wrong. Ireland is forging a lonely path internationally with this policy. The teaching profession in Ireland is monocultural – it reflects neither the diversity of Irish society nor our own classrooms. The taskforce's recommendation that the union must 'campaign and advocate for the removal of section 37.1 of the Employment Equality Act in its entirety' is welcome. This regrettable piece of legislation creates the vague, indefinable transgression of 'undermining the religious ethos' of a school. Moreover, teachers can face any 'action which is reasonably necessary' as a consequence. What does this mean? Sanction, loss of promotion prospects and dismissal? Understandably, most teachers don't want to find out. The result is a compliant workforce afraid to do anything that might fall foul of this obscure, discriminatory law. The chilling effect on teachers acts as an obvious barrier to entry to the profession at a time of catastrophic teacher shortages. 'Endeavouring' and 'campaigning' are not enough. The union must prioritise ending sacramental preparation in schools and the repeal of section 37.1. It needs to abandon the failed policy of divestment and focus on moving faith formation outside school hours: a real, practical change that will benefit teachers and children alike. Paddy Monahan is a teacher, Social Democrats councillor and policy officer with Education Equality
