In accordance with the figures from the Department of Education, a total of 126 children requiring special education are left without a school placement this September. This grave situation, largely impacting vulnerable children and their families, struggling to secure appropriate education facilities nearby their residences, is revealed in a recent report by the Ombudsman for Children.
Lamentably, the report suggests that there lacks a substantial and logical strategy to ensure timely and local school placements for every child with unique educational necessities. Moreover, the data, required for the planning and scrutiny of these placements’ quality, is insufficient.
This report, Two Years On, Plan for Places, analyses the advancement made following suggestions from the prior report by the ombudsman on future planning for school placements for special needs children. The report does acknowledge significant improvements since its initial release, such as the enactment of legislation, formulation of new policies, and the recent establishment of a Cabinet committee focusing on children, education, and disability.
Despite these improvements, the report underscores ongoing issues like deficient data for planning and tracking the quality of school places. One such example is Charlotte Cahill, who struggles to find a placement for her five-year-old special-needs daughter, Cyra.
The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, expressed his concerns regarding the annual rush from June to September to secure school places for children with special educational needs, particularly at secondary levels, left unaccounted for in the official projections. He emphasises on the immense pressure this puts on the families of these children.
Dr Muldoon acknowledges the progress made since the initial report, but insists that much remains to be done, especially in engaging with and involving special-needs children and their families in decisions impacting them. He concludes by stressing the necessity of adequate data, not just for forward planning of school places but also to monitor the suitability and quality of each child’s journey through the educational system.
The department has guaranteed a school placement for every known child with special needs. However, there’s also an emphasis on ensuring the placement’s appropriateness to the child’s necessities and its proximity to the child’s home.
In the 2023-24 academic year, it was observed that the number of children with educational special needs dependent on the school transportation system had gone beyond 19,800. This figure represents a surge of more than 2,000 since the release of the previous report.
Dr Muldoon highlighted the surge in children’s reliance on home tuition grants in the previous academic year due to insufficient suitable school placements. The number had grown from 69 to 135.
He stressed the critical need for a demonstrable evolution towards a “fully all-embracing educational system”. Dr Muldoon mentioned that the same issue had been raised by two UN Committees during their analysis of Ireland after our primary report.
The department has confirmed its determination to secure a school placement for “every child”. The National Council for Special Education, on the other hand, has professed its commitment to accommodating all children and youngsters in the upcoming academic year.