Education specialist and forthcoming by-election candidate, Dr Sheila Garrity, is calling for immediate action to reinstate local speech and language therapists for children in south Connemara schools.
In addition, Dr Garrity called for pre-emptive steps to forestall an anticipated shortage of Special Educational Needs (SEN ) classrooms throughout the country in September, as well as consultations with parents to resolve the Special Needs Assistant (SNA ) crisis.
Garrity, an independent candidate in the upcoming Galway West by-election, said parents in Connemara have raised concerns about the relocation of appointments from the health centre in Lettermore to other locations, sometimes as far as 30km away.
“Children living in rural communities and in the Gaeltacht have the same rights as children in larger towns and cities, and deserve the same level of service, so they can thrive in life.” Dr Garrity said. “Yet again, we see this government failing to take a rights-based approach when it comes to our children, and the allocation of supports and services.”
In addition, Dr Garrity called attention to the expected shortfall of SEN classrooms in September which could affect 800 to 1,200 children. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE ) currently uses an October 1 timeline, causing many families to be unknowingly late in applying for SEN classroom slots. She called on the NCSE to work with the Department of Children to incorporate data linked to the two-year ECCE preschool programme prior to children commencing national school.
“This longer period of planning should ensure families are not experiencing stress and anxiety, ahead of their child’s school commencement, and critically, that no child is excluded from appropriate educational supports.” she said.
The issues are part of a broader community-led campaign to support Special Needs Assistants (SNA ) in schools which arose after the Department of Education recently announced changes to SNA allocations and then agreed to “pause” the changes after widespread protests.
Dr Garrity urged the government to use this “pause” to enact urgently needed reforms, in consultation with parents and school communities. “Parents, SNAs, educators and local school leaders know best what resources and accommodations are needed to ensure all the children in their school community can participate in meaningful learning experiences,” Garrity said. “These people must be included in the decision-making process for each school to ensure truly inclusive education.”
Dr Garrity firmly believes that all children’s needs must be met and is critical of any plan that might allocate resources based on which children are more “deserving”, adding that the Irish state has a duty to enable all children to fully participate in meaningful learning experiences. Garrity said: “These people must be included in the decision-making process for each school to ensure truly inclusive education.”
