Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has accused the Minister for Education Norma Foley of failing to give adequate assurances to school staff and their families about a safe return to work.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show, Ms McDonald said that the Government’s handling of the proposed return to school for special needs students was “a shambles and a disgrace.”
The prospect that special education classes would not return was “the Government dropping the ball in slow motion, all over again.”
Teachers, special needs assistants (SNAs) and the students they cared for had suffered greatly, Ms McDonald said, due to what looked like “the second time that an announcement to reopen these educational services is going to fall flat.”
It was “astonishing” that the Government budget for personal protective equipment (PPE) in schools had been cut by 40 per cent, she added.
Requests from teachers’ unions for serial testing and safe transport to and from school were reasonable and could have been predicted.
48 hours
Separately, Labour education spokesperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin called on the Taoiseach to intervene and “take control of the education mess” with less than 48 hours to go until the planned reopening of special education schools.
“Despite the many missives from the Minister, the reopening of special educational needs (SEN) schools and classes on Thursday looks increasingly unlikely,” Mr Ó Ríordáin said in a statement.
“Children with special needs are regressing rapidly, and their parents are at breaking point. This is just not good enough.
“This is a mess entirely of the Department’s own making. Through mismanagement, they have damaged the partnership approach that has worked since September.
This is a mess entirely of the Department’s own making
“While everyone’s ultimate wish is to resume in-person special education, this is only on the basis that it is safe to do so in agreement with the unions," he added.
“Given the dire situation we now find ourselves in, I’m calling on the Taoiseach to intervene and rapidly rebuild the trust between groups that the Minister has forfeited.”
The criticism from the Opposition comes as the planned reopening of classes for students with special needs has been thrown into doubt after a teaching union said it has "grave safety concerns".
The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) last night called on the Department of Education to "reconsider" the planned return to in-class learning on Thursday.
The union said teachers’ concerns had not been adequately addressed amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Calls have been made for the Education Minister to produce an appropriate education plan for children with special needs, while talks are continuing today among unions.
