A book by a renowned intellectual and priest from Kerry will be launched tomorrow – more than 7 years after the author died.Doctor Father Gearóid O’Donnchadha d.
A year has been lost in the education of children with special needs.
That’s the opinion of Risteard Pierse whose daughter Sophie-Mai has Down’s Syndrome and attends St Ita’s and St Joseph’s Special School in Tralee.
Special schools will reopen at 50 percent capacity on February 11
th, followed by special-needs classes in mainstream schools later in the month.
Risteard Pierse is welcoming the reopening and is hopeful that students’ regression can be repaired.
However, he believes the delay in resuming in-school education for students with special needs has led to a loss of trust:
Yesterday, it was announced that dedicated schools for students with additional needs would reopen on February 11th and that classes in mainstream schools for pupils with special needs would resume on February 22nd.
This follows an agreement reached by the Department of Education with the Fórsa and INTO trade unions, which represent special needs assistants and primary school teachers respectively.
Risteard Pierseâs 17-year-old daughter Sophie-Mai has Downâs Syndrome and attends St Itaâs and St Josephâs Special School in Balloonagh, Tralee.
She has gone backwards : Father s impassioned plea to reopen special needs schools
Kerry solicitor Risteard Pierse said he has been taken aback by the continued closure of special needs schools
Sophie-Mai Pierse, age 17, who has Down syndrome is missing her education at St Ita’s & St Joseph’s Special School in Tralee. Picture: Domnick Walsh
Sun, 31 Jan, 2021 - 17:54
Lynne Kelleher
The father of a young girl with special needs has told of his dismay at watching a disconcerting regression in her educational development over the past month.
Sophie-Mai Pierse, who has Down syndrome, had been starting to catch up on her educational development at St Ita’s & St Joseph’s Special School in Tralee in the wake of the first lockdown when classes were shut down again at the start of the year.
Talks are continuing this week at resolving the impasse between Minister for Education Norma Foley and the unions over the re-opening of schools for special education provision.
It had been intended to re-open schools for special education last Thursday, January 21, but the plan descended into chaos with claims from the unions involved that it is not safe to return to school on one side while Minister Foley publicly criticised the unions for not returning to school, on the other. It is understood that many parents also feared sending their children back to school but others say special education is vital to ensure that their children do not regress.