County Derry schools see special needs teacher funding halved

County Derry schools will see funding for dedicated special needs teachers cut in half this year as the Department for Education announces cuts.

Each school in the North must have a special educational needs coordinator but the overall funding for the role has been reduced from £22m last year to £11m in 2023-24.

The special needs coordinator is a teacher who has overall responsibility for pupils with special educational needs in their school.

They support and help children with special educational needs (SEN) with their learning and development, and that can involve extra pastoral and administrative responsibilities.

The department gives each school some money to allow the coordinator to take time out from teaching so they can carry out their required duties.

However, the cut in money in the next year will mean schools have less money to provide substitute cover for their coordinator to give them time out of class for their role.

Over 66,000 pupils in the North have some form of SEN and more than 24,000 have a statement of SEN – a legal document which details the level and type of support they should receive in school.

In an email to schools about the funding the Education Authority said '£11m represents a reduction in the funding that has been made available in previous years' but 'given the challenging financial situation' they were pleased that some funding had continued.

SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan criticised the decision to cut the funding in half.

“SEN provision was already operating under a £116 million shortfall- significant investment is needed to sustain the sector. The decision to reduce already limited support will inflict long lasting damage which will be felt for years to come,” he said.

“I hear constantly from parents about the heartbreaking and, indeed, frustrating situation facing their children struggling in a class of their peers without the additional support they require. Sadly, today’s decision will compound existing challenges and will see children left behind. It is unforgivable that vulnerable children are bearing the brunt of political stalemate.”

A recent review into support for children with SEN in the North, commissioned by the Department of Education (DE), revealed it is 'not perceived to be an efficient way of supporting children'.

The DE has already stopped a number of schemes to save money, including the school holiday food grant for children entitled to free school meals.

However, the DE has also saved a number of youth services after public pressure.

The permanent secretary of DE confirmed the cuts to Pathway Fund, Sure Start, BrightStart and Toybox would not go ahead. Planned cuts to the Extended Schools programme would also not be at the scale previously proposed.

East Derry MLA Claire Sugden said preventing the full extent of the cuts to 'vital youth services' will bring 'huge relief' to parents and children across the north coast.

“These programmes support a huge number of children and parents right across this area – the number of those affected by the scrapping of them would have been enormous,” she said.

“They support our most vulnerable children, including those with additional needs or those from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

“I am hugely pleased that these proposals have now been reversed and that parents, children and the hard-working groups themselves can now breathe a huge sigh of relief.”