As demand grows, policy of inclusion means places will be harder to secure

Special schools are often misunderstood. Perhaps because of backwards or ableist notions about children with special educational needs; sometimes people talk about special schools as places where children are just coddled or minded. In fact, special schools are often far more educationally challenging for children – in the best possible way.

For children who have special educational needs, not being able to find a place in a special school can be life-changing. Parents of small children who may have been in additional needs preschools are left scrambling for special-school places across the country, facing the real fear that the progress their children have made could unravel if they are forced to go to a mainstream school.

For older children, who may have been diagnosed with severe dyslexia, the struggle to access a special reading school can mean they find themselves preparing to go to secondary school while still not being able to read.

Trying to cope in a mainstream school that may not be able to meet their needs can lead to anxiety and self-esteem issues for children, who berate themselves for being too “stupid” to keep pace with their friends. While mainstream schools are sometimes proposed as the most inclusive option, children can report feeling excluded if and when they are taken out of their class for resource support. Parents searching for

special school places are restricted by certain catchment areas.

However, if it is possible to find a place, families are willing to put their children on buses that could take over an hour each morning for the sake of a school place. Some families have raised concerns about the effects of children having to leave their own communities to access special education. Schools believe the answer to this is to increase the national provision of places. However, special schools are coming up against a new national policy, which proposes reducing the number of special schools altogether over time.

This is called an inclusion model – and it’s based on the idea that it is better for children with disabilities to not be segregated into a parallel education system to their peers.

One prominent case study for the full “inclusion” model is a small Canadian province called New Brunswick. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) here was really taken with the model, which is based on having one classroom for everyone. So no special schools or dedicated classes.

It’s based on what appears to be the laudable principle that children should not be segregated based on disability. However, the New Brunswick model has been criticised and questioned in Canada, with some parents of children with special educational needs reporting that they had taken their children out of school due to frustration with the model not fully supporting them.

The criticism centres on the claims that in a full mainstream class, children are left to struggle.

In a landmark policy paper published earlier this year, the NCSE proposed the “progressive realisation” of a full inclusion model in Ireland.

While it maintained “the importance” of special schools as an option for parents, the main recommendation was to move towards having children with special educational needs in mainstream schools. This had followed a request from the education minister in 2018 to the NCSE to explore such a policy. That same year, Ireland had ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

Article 24 of the UNCRPD is interpreted to mean that having separate mainstream and special education systems is not compatible with the principle of inclusion.

Article two of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (EPSEN) says that “a child with special educational needs shall be educated in an inclusive environment with children who do not have such needs.” But special schools argue that the powers that be often ignore the second part of that article, which makes a clear exception in cases where the needs of the child mean their best interests would not be best served in a mainstream school.

The “inclusive” model makes those who work in special education and parents of children with special educational needs nervous, because of the experiences they have had with Ireland’s education system.

There is a strong feeling among staff in special schools that there is a direct link between a new resource model of allocation that was introduced for all schools in 2017 and applications for special schools increasing. Under this model, schools have a set pot of money and finite resources that they have to stretch to meet all of the needs presented among schoolchildren in a given year.

There is a fear that some children’s needs are not being met under this model, which may cause regression and lead to them being diagnosed as needing a special-school place instead. The fight for extra resources, for a school that tries to apply for it, can be arduous.

Right now, parents who receive a psychologist’s report that recommends their child go to a special school already have the freedom to choose to put their child in a mainstream school instead. It’s a decision parents will take in the best interests of their child.

For those in special education, the choice is clear. In a mainstream school, a child might just be surviving. In a special school, they could be thriving.

‘ln a mainstream school, a child might just be surviving. In a special school, they could be thriving’