Outrage as Dublin Special School forced to reduce school week due to staffing crisis

Equality in Education Dublin North West has condemned the situation at An Cosán Community Special School, where parents were informed at approximately 3pm on Sunday that their children would be placed on reduced school timetables due to severe staffing shortages.

In an email to parents, the school announced that, from the coming week, junior pupils would attend school on Mondays and Tuesdays only, while senior pupils would attend from Wednesday to Friday.

The school explained that it is awaiting the recruitment of three teachers, three Special Needs Assistants (SNAs), and replacements for two SNAs on long-term leave.

A further four staff members are currently absent due to illness or injury.

The school principal stated that there are no longer sufficient staff to safely operate a normal school week.

Greg Lewis, co-founder of Equality in Education Dublin North West, an SNA and father of 15-year-old Sam, who attends the school, said:

“If this happened in a mainstream school, there would be public outrage. Yet children with additional needs and their families are expected to put up with things that would never be tolerated elsewhere.

“To receive an email at 3pm on a Sunday telling us that our children will only be attending school two or three days a week is totally unacceptable.

“How are families supposed to plan their lives around notices like this?

“So many parents, ourselves included, will now have to take time off work, rearrange commitments and somehow find a way to make this work.

“It is going to be an enormous challenge for families who are already under huge pressure.

“But most importantly, this is completely unfair on our children.

“Sam and every other child in that school deserve a full education, just like their peers in mainstream schools.

“They should not have to sacrifice their education because the Government cannot ensure that schools have enough staff.”

Dublin City Councillor Conor Reddy, also a co-founder of Equality in Education Dublin North West, said:

“This is yet another appalling failure of children with additional educational needs.

“We are barely removed from the Virgin Media documentary by Eric Roberts exposing the crisis inside our special education system, and we’re now being reminded just how deep that crisis runs.

“Schools are under enormous pressure just to function at the most basic level.

“The fact that a school cannot operate safely because it does not have enough teachers and SNAs should be a national scandal.

“The Government has consistently failed to give children with additional educational needs the same priority as their peers in mainstream education. These children have just as much right to a full school week, to a proper education and to the support they need to thrive.”

Equality in Education Dublin North West say they will be contacting the City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB) and the Minister for Education to demand an urgent intervention to resolve the staffing crisis at An Cosán.

The campaign is calling for immediate emergency staffing arrangements, urgent action to fill outstanding vacancies and a clear plan to restore a full school week for every pupil as quickly as possible.

Greg Lewis added:

“Parents and children cannot be left in limbo for weeks while recruitment processes drag on.

“This needs an immediate response from the Department.

“Our children have already lost out on far too much education.

“They cannot afford to lose any more.”