'Devastating' cuts will hit hardest for vulnerable children - Derry MLA

SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan has expressed serious concern that a potential £110 million funding gap in the Education Authority (EA) budget will have catastrophic consequences for the delivery of Special Educational Needs (SEN) services. 

Mr Durkan criticised the piecemeal approach to SEN funding to date, adding that SEN within schools was already chronically underfunded and proposed cuts will see the most vulnerable children paying the price for political failure. 

The Foyle MLA said: “Schools were already struggling to plug the existing gap in SEN funding given the ever-increasing numbers of statemented pupils. It’s purported that 22% of the school population here have additional needs.  

“That represents a significant number of pupils who will bear the brunt of continued budget pressures. The SEN framework here is crying out for an overhaul and it’s been patently clear that the current model is not fit for purpose.

“Unfortunately, it has been the case for many parents that the continued difficulty in obtaining fitting an appropriate Special Educational support, has been to the detriment of their child’s learning and development.  

“It is heart-breaking and hugely frustrating that these cuts will hit hardest for the most vulnerable children; children who are struggling in a class of their peers without the additional support they require.

"The current system is crying out for long-overdue transformation and that can only happen when it is adequately resourced.

“The reality is that these cuts will paint a dire educational outlook for a generation of children. The DUPs shameful standoff continues to disadvantage the most vulnerable individuals within society.”