THE CHIEF executive of
the National Council for Special Education Pat
Curtin, met with parents from Inishowen yesterday to
discuss the deepening crisis around the provision of
special needs resources at Inishowen schools, and is
understood to have promised meet with other parents
from the peninsula to hear their stories.
Speaking to the Inishowen Independent, Elaine
Clarke, one of four parents from the newly formed
Special Needs Access Action Group (SNAAG) who met
with Mr Curtin and his officials yesterday,
suggested he had been ‘shocked at what he had
heard.’
“There was a lot of talk about policy issues, but we
finally got to put the parents concerns across,”
said Elaine Clarke. “Mr Curtin is reviewing the
cases we highlighted and he was shocked at what he
heard. We certainly gave him something to think
about.”
The meeting which lasted more than an hour and a
half came just a fortnight after more than 300
people gathered at a public meeting in Ballyliffin
to express their outrage at the withdrawal of
Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) and reduction of
assistance for children with special educational
needs at schools across the peninsula.
Senator Cecilia Keaveney who attended yesterday’s
meeting said there had been an open exchange of
information that led to Pat Curtin offering to
return to address a larger group of parents in
September/October to discuss the role of the Special
Education Needs Council.
“In the meantime he will be looking into the issues
raised. Pat Curtin also said that if the reviews he
carries out lead to results that we are not happy
about then he will look to another process to
evaluate whether Inishowen has equal treatment to
the rest of the country.”
She added: “We all want to see the role of the
special child central to the new council’s resource
allocation. Parents, teachers, professionals of all
sorts want to work together to give the special
education students the best start in their primary
and secondary school life. We are all agreed on
this.”
School principals and representatives of boards of
management also met with Mr. Curtin yesterday
although those meetings are believed to have been
held in private session.
The parents group SNAAG will hold a public meeting
at the Strand Hotel in Ballyliffin next Monday, 7
July, at 8pm to report on the outcome of their
meeting. (Story: Inishowen
Independent) |
