Towards a Better Future

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Chapter Seven: The School System: Equality, Inclusion and Rights DISABILITY/SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS At the time of the 2011 Census there were 595,335 persons (of all ages), or 13% of the population, who declared that they had a disability (CSO, 2012). It is important to point out in a discussion on education that not all people with a disability have a special educational need (SEN). Likewise not all people with a special educational need will have a diagnosed disability. Thus, the numbers of persons in these two categories at any one time may differ. When the Irish state was founded in 1922 there were only eight institutions, all charitable, private and voluntary, dedicated to serving the needs of people with disabilities and special educational needs (Griffin and Shevlin, 2007). It was not until 1952, when the schools for the blind were allowed a special pupil-teacher ratio of 1:15 and financial aid towards the purchase of specialised equipment that state intervention became a reality (ibid.). After this, state provision for special education expanded slowly, including “ It is important to point out in a discussion on education that not all people with a disability have a special educational need (SEN). ” the establishment of post-graduate programmes for teachers such as the Higher Diploma for the Teaching of the Deaf (1956), the Higher Diploma in Remedial and Special Education (1984) in University College Dublin and the Diploma in Special Education in St Patrick’s College of Education, Dublin (1961). However, state provision for special education remained segregated (mainly in special schools) to a very substantial degree until the 1990s. For the first time a policy of integrated education in the EU was endorsed in 1990 concerning integration of children and young people with disabilities into ordinary systems of education (Council of the European Union, 1990). This was proposed by the Irish Minister for Education during the Irish presidency and was adopted unanimously by the EC Council of Ministers for Education (Government of Ireland, 1992, p. 61). This was followed by the establishment of the Special Education Review Committee, which reported in 1993. This was a comprehensive report which is still influential and which provided a blueprint for the development of special education – with one major exception, that of the area of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A number of court cases (initiated by parents) and court judgments followed, the most important of which was the landmark High Court judgement in the O’Donoghue case which underlined the state’s responsibility to provide appropriate educational opportunities for all children, whatever their disabilities or learning needs (Griffin and Shevlin, 2007). — 119 —
Towards a Better Future: A Review of the Irish School System In 1998, the first comprehensive Education Act to regulate the system was enacted. This specifically set out to make provision in the common good for the education of every person in the state, including those with a disability or other special educational need. In 2000, the Task Force on Autism was set up and reported in 2001, addressing the educational provision and support of people with ASD, while the Task Force on Dyslexia also reported in 2001. The recommendations of these two reports resulted in a substantial expansion of educational services, especially for students with ASD. In 2004 the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act was passed. This established the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which has an advisory, research and coordination role for special education. However, due to budgetary constraints, the full Act has not yet been commenced. Thus, since the late 1990s government policy has favoured the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schools and classes, while retaining a continuum of provision of special schools and classes to meet, in particular, the needs of children with more significant disabilities. In the 2013/14 school year, the NCSE enabled over 45,700 students with special educational needs to receive additional teaching in mainstream schools (NCSE, 2015). This represents 5.3% of the mainstream school population, both primary and post-primary (the mainstream population was 869,492 in that year – www.education.ie). While this is the proportion of children with special educational needs in mainstream schools as a whole, research “ In 1998, the first comprehensive Education Act to regulate the system was enacted. This specifically set out to make provision in the common good for the education of every person in the state, including those with a disability or other special educational need. ” has shown that a small proportion of both primary and post-primary schools have much larger numbers with assessed disabilities/special educational needs and report that over 20% of their pupils fall into this category (O’Gorman and Drudy, 2011). As well as those receiving support in mainstream classes, in 2013/14 there were 737 special classes in mainstream schools with 4,997 places and an additional 7,500 pupils enrolled in special schools. By 2015/16 there were 11,820 special needs assistants (NCSE, 2015), compared to less than 300 in the late 1990s, and some 6,832 resource teachers, many of whom work alongside the mainstream teacher (NCSE, 2015). This represents a great improvement in the support of children with special educational needs, even through a period of economic difficulty. A further welcome initiative in the field of disability/SEN was the introduction of Reasonable Accommodation in Certificate Examinations (RACE). RACE is targeted to candidates with — 120 —
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