Department of Education inspectors have expressed concern at how additional teaching resources that should be supporting students with special education needs are being deployed in post-primary schools.
In one of a number of reports published by the inspectorate, they say shortcomings in how "many post-primary schools" deploy additional resources received from the Department of Education to support inclusion need to be addressed "so that young people with the greatest level of need receive the greatest support".
'Reflections on inclusion in the Irish education system' says inspections carried out across a number of post-primary schools highlight significant weaknesses in the deployment of additional teaching resources.
Inspectors found that many of the schools were using their special education teaching resources to form smaller mainstream class groups or to provide additional subject option blocks at senior cycle.
"This approach to the use of special education teaching resources had an evident negative impact on the quality of teaching for those young people who require targeted additional teaching support," the inspectors said.
"Such approaches are not in line with the purposes for which targeted resources are provided to schools," they concluded.
While inspectors found effective management and use of special education resources in most primary schools inspected in 2023, they found that in five out of the 17 schools inspected last year, special education teachers were "teaching significant elements of the mathematics and English curricula to mainstream classes".
Teacher shortage complaints
Schools, particularly in the greater Dublin area, have complained that the teacher shortage is forcing them to place special education teachers in mainstream classes because they cannot recruit teachers to posts or cannot find substitute teachers at short notice.
In the same report, inspectors have also expressed concern that the growth of specialist provision for children with additional needs "presents a challenge" to achieving an education system that is inclusive, with all children learning together.
Noting a six-fold increase in special classes for children with autism between 2010 and 2022, the report cites parental preference as the driver of the growth of specialist provision.
It says an evaluation with parents of early intervention classes for pre-school autistic children found that "almost all those parents viewed placement in an early intervention class as the ideal pre-school placement for their child owing to the small class size and the favourable adult-child ratio.
"The parents also indicated their clear preference for their child to continue in a special class in primary school".
These findings are in line with the outcome of National Council for Special Education consultations which found that parents felt that a special class placement was the best educational placement for their child for a range of reasons including access to appropriate education and care from teachers and special needs assistants.
"These perspectives are echoed by many other stakeholders, such as teachers and school leaders, who reported that specialist provision, with enhanced resources and perceived greater knowledge and expertise among teachers, is, in their opinion, the best placement for children and young people with more complex special educational needs," the inspector's report found.
"There is a very evident strategic challenge in reconciling policies for special classes in the system with provision for learners with special educational needs through inclusive models of support," the report concluded.
'High-quality education' generally experienced - Dept
This report is among several published by the inspectorate. They include thematic reviews of a number of aspects of education here, as well as an analysis of education provision in schools, early learning and care settings and other educational settings over the course of 2021 to 2023.
Publishing the reports, the Department of Education said: "Across the continuum of education provision for children aged from birth to 18 years, inspectors found that children and young people generally experienced high-quality education.
"The report indicates that school and setting leaders, teachers and educators contributed significantly to maintaining stability in the quality of education provision both during the Covid-19 period and since then."
Highlighting some issues of concern, it said the reports found that challenges remained in relation to ensuring that school attendance rates continue to improve to pre-pandemic levels, and that "scope for improvement in school assessment policies and approaches" had been found in a significant proportion of schools.
In relation to inclusion, the department said: "The findings also indicate that there are still areas that need improvement to ensure that all children have access to high-quality learning experiences and that they feel valued, respected and included in their school community."
