Call to restore children’s speech and language services
Education specialist and Galway West bye-election candidate, Dr Sheila Garrity, is calling for immediate action to reinstate local speech and language therapies for children in south Connemara schools.
In addition, Dr Garrity called for pre-emptive steps to forestall an anticipated shortage of Special Educational Needs (SEN) classrooms throughout the country in September as well as consultations with parents to resolve the Special Needs Assistant (SNA) crisis.
Sheila Garrity, an independent candidate in the upcoming Galway West by-election, said parents in Connemara have raised concerns about the relocation of appointments from the health centre in Lettermore, to Tullow or further east, to Spiddal, a possible 40km-trip for families.
“Children living in rural communities and in the Gaeltacht have the same rights as children in larger towns and cities and deserve the same level of service, so they can thrive in life,” she said. “Yet again we see this government failing to take a rights-based approach when it comes to our children and the allocation of supports and services.”
In addition, Dr Garrity highlighted the expected shortfall of SEN classrooms in September which could affect 800 to 1,200 children. The National Council for Special Education currently uses an October 1 timeline, causing many families to be unknowingly late in applying for SEN classroom slots.
She called on the NCSE to work with the Department of Children to incorporate data linked to the two-year ECCE preschool programme prior to children commencing national school.
The issues are part of a broader community-led campaign to support Special Needs Assistants in schools which arose after the Department of Education recently announced changes to SNA allocations and then agreed to “pause” the changes.