Fine Gael councillor and principal says children will always come first in row over SNAs

Louise Walsh

A Fine Gael councillor who ran for election in order to fight for the rights of children with additional needs said they will always come first, in speaking about her party's recent push to reduce the amount of special needs assistants (SNAs) in schools.

National school principal Anne Marie Ford led a march to the Dáil before being elected, after she was told to choose between children when allocating badly needed SNAs between 15 children at her school in 2021.

The head of Scoil Naomh Colmcille in Togher, Co Louth refused to choose between vulnerable children at her school when she was told to 'reprioritise' SNAs after a review by the Department of Education.

At that time there were just 1.83 SNAs at the school, one of whom was to support 12 children. The .83 resource was helping three children in Junior Infants. She was successful in securing two additional SNAs and a learning support teacher.

Ford has always been passionate about integrating children with autism into mainstream classes as soon as possible to allow them to become independent and realise their potential

The school also teaches 24 children who have a diagnosis of autism, from all over Louth and Meath, in four early intervention classes at the rural facility.

Since then, she was elected as a local councillor for Fine Gael in Louth and pledged to help all vulnerable children in any way she can.

Her colleague and Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton was embroiled in controversy when she announced a review of SNA allocations. That review has now been paused after a huge pushback by parents and teachers.

Ford says that despite wearing a Fine Gael hat, for her, "children come first".

"I will always speak out when it comes to children and this strategy is wrong and is not evidenced based," she said.

"It has always been a reactive strategy, constantly on the back foot.

"It's about looking to place a child with special needs in a school, any placement regardless if it's in the right place for them.

"This is not ok, and it’s not good enough! There must be evidence based and better planning in terms of serving these vulnerable children.”

While Cllr Ford admits that there will always be a need for special education classes, she is adamant that it should be the exception rather than the norm.

Supports and resources

She said while many children with additional needs are able for mainstream classes, they can only do so with supports and resources in place.

She believes that instead of reducing SNA numbers when pupils needing those resources leave national school, they should be retained for children who will undoubtedly be enrolling in the coming years as the exceptional review process to reinstate an SNA is incredibly onerous.

Government should be proactive by using an early intervention model to save costs in the long run.

This will reduce the need for special needs classes and in turn reduce the €3 billion spending while affording every child a chance to reach their potential.

“You may need one or at most two SNAs and one teacher for about 25 children in a mainstream class but in a special needs class, you need three adults for every six children, the difference in ratio is significant in terms of cost. Not to mention the price of building the classrooms.

“Throw the kitchen sink at these children in terms of early intervention and clinical supports when they are two and three years old and they will have more of a chance of being able for mainstream classes.

We need to get this across the line in the best interest of all our children.

"This will allow these children to progress with exposure to good communication skills and social skills of their peers.

"Parents also need support and reassurance that there will be sufficient and appropriate support for their child to transition into their local school.

"While there is a current pause in this review, she thinks everyone needs to sit around a table with children and their interests at the heart of the discussion.

"Noone should judge a child on a psychological report. It is essential to meet children and assess them by who they are rather than statistics on a piece of paper.”

While schools cannot refuse entry to a child based on need, it is difficult for schools and parents to enrol a child in a mainstream setting when the essential resources are not available.

“You cannot, and should not rob Peter to pay Paul. No parent should hear that their child has to be turned away from their school of choice.

"That's a system failing. We need to get this across the line in the best interest of all our children."