SPECIAL needs children in Limerick schools are being “doubly victimised” because of supersized class sizes and cutbacks in one-to-one teaching time.
And, according to a spokesperson for Limerick primary school teachers, every child with diagnosed special needs has had their resource time reduced by 15 per cent over the past few years.
“If a child with a condition such as autism is entitled to five hours one-to-one teaching per week, they only get 4.25 hours now. Those children are being penalised, the children who are most in need of help,” Limerick Irish National Teachers Organization (INTO) spokesperson Joe Lyons told the Limerick Post.
Mr Lyons, who is also principal at St Joseph’s National School in Clarina, was commenting after the recent launch of INTO’s Room to Bloom campaign, which calls on the government not to make further cuts to the education budget next year.
The teachers’ union confirmed that more than a quarter of Limerick pupils are in supersized classes of 30 children or more.
“We have the largest classes in the EU. Limerick is a particular black spot in terms of large classes, especially the city and its outskirts. When the building boom happened in the middle of the last decade, lots of houses were built but extra schools weren’t built to accommodate the children who were going to come along.
“We have an awful lot of children in Limerick who are in classes of 30 or more, some are even in classes in the mid to high 30s,” commented Mr Lyons.
As part of the campaign, local TDs have been invited to visit schools in Limerick to witness the situation first hand, and to hear the views of the school community.
Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan recently visited St Paul’s National School in Dooradoyle, while Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea visited the Salesian Infant School.
A significant number of children at the Salesian Infant School are in classes with numbers in the high 20s, while three classes have more than 30 children.
The school faces further challenges as 25 per cent of its pupils come from homes where English is not the first language, and the extra numbers make it difficult to adequately meet their needs.
“Most of the politicians have been very positive about it because they can see that primary education is vital and if a child gets off to a bad start it’s very hard for them to catch up. But we will have to see if this is backed up in the budget,” said Mr Lyons.
