John MacGabhann, Assistant General Secretary, TUI said:

“Certain schools continue to discriminate against students with special educational needs by not allowing them the right to be educated with their siblings, friends and neighbours. The corollary of this is that other schools with open admissions polices continue to act as magnets for pupils with special education needs, despite a chronic lack of resources.

With much fanfare, the Minister signalled her intention to carry out an audit of the number of students with special needs in schools two years ago but this information has yet to be presented despite several requests from TUI.

The Department’s inertia in dealing with these issues is already having catastrophic results for some schools, including increasing haemorrhage from the school’s cohort of students who do not have special educational needs, teacher burn-out, and insupportable administrative burdens. It painfully ironic that those schools which respect and apply principles of equity and inclusion should have their viability threatened so that other schools may continue their immoral selective practices.

Minster Hanafin’s inaction and silence on this issue has long since been unacceptable.

TUI is aware that at least 10% of second level schools do not take any students with special needs. We are also aware that a significant number of schools take only a small cohort of such students, more as a cosmetic exercise than any real acknowledgement of their responsibilities under legislation.

School management, aided by the Department’s inertia, can no longer be allowed to propagate a sinister brand of academic apartheid in terms of students admitted, or to put it more accurately, excluded. TUI’s policy on this issue is a simple one. We want all schools to genuinely practise inclusion so that these students are not denied the chance to be socialised on their own terms. Not only is this morally right, it is also enshrined in legislation. In short, their place in the community should be affirmed and not denied or compromised in any way.

A connected issue relates to the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004, specifically the future requirement of Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for those students with special needs.

As it stands, schools meeting their responsibilities with regard to open admission policies are currently in no position to implement IEPs as set out in the EPSEN Act. It is no exaggeration to say that many such schools will simply not be in a position both to provide classes and carry out the considerable extra administrative burden of IEPs. Teachers wish to be facilitated in carrying out the duties associated with IEPs. However, resources in terms of extra time to do the work – which necessarily involves the appointment of extra teachers – and any required training must be provided before they can do so in a manner that is consistent with the requirements of the legislation and the expectations of children and their parents.

A general policy informing the TUI position is that resources must be made available that are proportionate to the additional tasks undertaken by schools in implementing both national policy on inclusion and the specific terms of the EPSEN Act 2004.

The exclusionary nature of certain schools – facilitated by the Department’s refusal to introduce sanctions against them – means that the EPSEN Act will cripple those schools which have become a magnet for students with special needs within their communities. EPSEN implementation cannot begin until these segregationist practices operated by certain schools are tackled.

Teachers are committed to providing an education of the highest quality to all children, irrespective of ability, but are routinely obstructed in their efforts by a post- primary environment that is chronically and grossly under-resourced, especially in respect of special educational needs. It is the moral and legal responsibility of the State, acting through the Department of Education and Science, to provide the resources that will facilitate effective implementation of the guidelines.

As it stands, the Minster’s silence on this issue is speaking volumes. We once again ask the Department of Education and Science to be forthcoming with the results of this audit or to fully explain the unexpected and unacceptable delay.”