FEARS are growing over potential job losses in the county after Department of Education announced that schools will only get 90% of special needs teaching hours that they would normally be entitled to, from this September.
The department claims teacher numbers in the country will increase by 350.
However the union the INTO called it ‘yet another cut’ to affect the most vulnerable.
The union says many families will be hit on the double as home supports for children with special needs are cut too.
And the Irish Primary Principals’ Network said it is ‘dismayed’ with the news.
It said the Resource Teachers for Travellers, the Visiting Teachers for Travellers and the Co-ordinators supporting Disadvantage in Rural Areas have already been abolished.
The organisation’s president, Pat Goff said it is time for the Government to refocus its resources to the most vulnerable in our schools and seek these savings elsewhere in the system.
