Letter to the Editor: Our children deserve more than eligibility on paper
A system designed to support vulnerable children should not create further barriers for them.
Dear Editor,
I am writing as an exhausted mother who has spent years fighting for something every child should be entitled to: an education that meets their needs.
My son has a lifelong disability, identified educational needs and NCSE eligibility for special-class provision. Yet, despite professional assessments, recommendations and repeated applications, he remains without the specialist placement identified as necessary for him.
His needs were recognised at the transition from primary to secondary school, but he could not secure a place. Years later, we are still facing the same barriers, with no clear alternative pathway and no organisation taking responsibility for resolving the situation.
The consequences are now having a profound impact on his education. My son is in third year, the Junior Cycle examination year, but attends on a reduced timetable and follows a limited learning programme. He will not be sitting his Junior Certificate under his current educational circumstances. This is heartbreaking when the specialist placement recommended for him could provide the environment, support and opportunities he needs to access a fuller education.
He is not an application number or an admissions category. He is a child whose potential and educational opportunities are being restricted because the provision identified as necessary has never been secured.
My question to Government is simple: What happens to children who are assessed as needing a special-class placement but cannot get one?
Are parents expected to apply year after year, knowing admissions criteria can disadvantage children already enrolled in mainstream education? Even if additional places became available, these children could remain disadvantaged by policies prioritising other applicant categories.
This is not simply about insufficient places. It is about access, fairness and the absence of a pathway for children whose needs can no longer be met within mainstream education.
I want clear answers to four questions:
Accountability: Who is ultimately responsible for ensuring NCSE-eligible children actually receive the specialist provision professionally recommended for them?
Admissions: Who oversees school admissions policies to ensure they do not disadvantage children already enrolled in mainstream education who subsequently require specialist provision?
Alternative pathways: What route exists for children who missed out at primary-to-post-primary transition and remain unsuccessful in subsequent applications?
Intervention: What will the Department of Education, the Minister for Education and the Minister responsible for Disability do, rather than continuing to direct parents between schools, the NCSE and other agencies?
Parents understand that places are limited and demand is high. But a child's future should not depend on how many times their parents can reapply or whether they fit a particular admissions category.
A system designed to support vulnerable children should not create further barriers for them.
I am asking Government to take ownership, provide transparency and establish a meaningful alternative pathway. No family should spend years fighting for the provision their child has already been assessed as needing.
Behind every application is a child, a family and a future. Our children deserve more than eligibility on paper. They deserve the education, support and opportunities they have a right to receive.
Gillian Reynolds,
Foxwood,
Waterford city.
