Special Needs Assistants Cull Stopped By Petition
- Ralph Quinlan Forde BSc Hons MA
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
A public petition with 40,000 signatures and rising raised by Sarah Carty has brought a welcome U-turn by the Irish government who were planning to reduce Special Needs Assistants in Irish schools.
Over 300 Special Needs Assistants positions were being threatened to be cut by the Irish government in over 180 Irish schools.
This is another example how deaf the Irish government is to the needs of the citizens who sadly voted the FF/FG group in .... again.
We have over 5,000 children homeless over 200,000 children living in active alcoholism and with parents who are drug addicts, and we have over 20, 000 waiting for autism assessments. CAHMS is a sad case of some teens who need psychiatric intervention waiting years for help.
Even The Times in London has called this 'inhumane' but not our national press.
Sign the petition by clicking on this image.
A Special Needs Assistant in a class is the difference whether a child gets an education or not.
In an age where autism, ADHD and other factors are operating this government should be increasing Special Needs Assistants and not reducing them.
The cost of building the National Children's Hospital has now grown to 2.4 billion Euros from 1 billion eight years ago. An extra billion because the government could not manage the project leaving this hospital to be the most expensive hospital in the world.
Did the Irish government not learn anything from the building of the Scottish parliament? This started out at £9 million to build and ended up costing over 90? Sure the Irish tax payer will pay.
Sure didn't they pay over 42% of the cost to fix the Eurozone banking crisis despite only causing 6% of the problem. Sure aren't they going to pay an extra billion for a hospital?
So the Irish governments solution to their financial mismanagement is to reduce a child's right to an education by reducing Special Needs Assistants.
By attempting to reduce the amount of Special Needs Assistants when the parents, schools, and kids need them most. Only thanks to Sarah and the petition she has started their aims have badly backlashed publicly.
Sarah wrote on Change.com, "The alarming cull of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) in mainstream classes across Ireland is a grave injustice to our children, particularly those who rely heavily on these services to access the classroom and learn effectively. This issue is not just a statistic, but a personal crisis faced by countless families like ours. My child, among many, depends on the daily support of a dedicated SNA to navigate the school environment, engage with peers, and participate in educational activities. Without this support, children with special needs are at risk of being left behind, depriving them of their right to an inclusive education."
She went onto say, "Special Needs Assistants play an indispensable role in our education system, advocating for and assisting children with physical, emotional, and educational challenges. According to a report by the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, reducing SNAs in schools directly impacts the quality and inclusivity of education. This devastating cutback doesn't just limit the potential of those who need additional help; it undermines the very ethos of equal opportunity for all students."
After a public backlash today by emails to the Department of Education and through an online petition as change.org the Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton has had to publicly state that the action to reduce Special needs assistants has been 'paused'.
So you need to sign and share the petition to as much parents as possible to not only force the government to STOP but also INCREASE Special Needs Assistants to schools.
David in Dublin wrote on the petition site;
"Signed. I’ve seen first-hand what a good SNA means to a child and their family - the confidence it gives them, the progress they make, the simple fact that they get to be included like every other kid in the room. Taking that away is a step backwards for all of us, not just the families directly affected. Inclusive schools make better communities...."
Bernadette wrote;
"Special Needs Assistants are a huge part of the Special Education process, they supply a great support system for both the teachers and parents of special needs. They see them first thing in the morning once they come to school and are the last part of their school day. They encourage a child who has separation anxiety to be able to leave their Mom/dad caregiver and start their school day with a happy note. All class room needs are met by the assistants. Special Education could not survive without these very valuable people."
Lets help Sarah all the Special Needs Assistants, parents and the children they support get a statement from the Irish government that not only are they going to go from pause to stop but to also increase the amounts of Special Needs Assistants in schools nationally.
Click on the CHANGE.ORG image above to sign and share the petition.
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