By Sabrina Sweeney
Nine children.
Nine families across Donegal left wondering.
Nine young lives now in limbo because, yet again, the system has failed them.
The exhaustion and heartbreak facing the families who at this time have no prospect of being able to send their children to school in September because there are not enough spaces at Little Angels School is an indictment of our government’s failure to plan for the most vulnerable in our society.
It’s the latest chapter in a long history of government neglect when it comes to special education in Ireland.
Little Angels in Letterkenny is the only dedicated school in the county catering to children with moderate to profound learning disabilities.
With 133 pupils enrolled, it is already operating at full capacity.
Parents were promised that the school’s new, purpose-built facility, due to open soon, would meet demand and yet here we are, with families being turned away.
What has angered the parents who have to fight so many battles for their children as it is is that this crisis didn’t appear overnight.
Concerns about Little Angels’ capacity were raised as early as December 2024, when reports highlighted that the new state-of-the-art school might not have enough classrooms to meet demand for its opening.
Parents and local representatives also sounded the alarm, warning that the new facility would be too small.
Last month, Donegal TD Pearse Doherty raised the issue in the Dáil, urging the government to act before children were left without a place.
But despite these warnings, no action was taken.
Instead, authorities waited until the crisis became unavoidable before acknowledging the problem at all.
To give credit where it’s due, the government has increased funding for special education in recent years.
In 2023 alone, additional resources were allocated, including 686 Special Educational Needs (SEN) teachers and 1,194 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs). This was a significant investment aimed at improving support for children with additional needs.
Some parents and educators have noted positive changes, such as reduced waiting times for support in certain areas and improved access to classroom assistance.
However, for families like those without a basic school place, these improvements mean little.
Increased funding, while welcome, is meaningless if it doesn’t translate into tangible solutions for those most in need.
And let’s face it – this is not just a Donegal issue.
Across the country the number of children needing support has grown, but the infrastructure has not kept pace.
Waiting lists for school places, assessments, and vital therapies have spiralled out of control and parents are being left to fight battles just to secure what most parents take for granted.
Solutions do exist.
Expanding existing facilities, for example, isn’t a radical idea.
Other schools in similar situations have successfully introduced modular class-rooms to increase capacity in the short term.
But despite calls for similar action in Donegal, there has been no movement on this.
Another focus is looking at mainstream schools and how they can fit into a wider model of providing for those with greater educational needs.
Many children with moderate learning difficulties thrive in inclusive settings if they have the right support.
Attendance at a local mainstream school also removes the huge burden of travel being placed on families who don’t live near a dedicated educational setting.
The Irish government has committed to inclusive education, yet many mainstream schools still lack the resources and trained staff to properly support children with additional needs.
Meanwhile the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has repeatedly recommended increased training and resources to bridge this gap so questions need to be asked as to why this is not happening faster.
Then there’s the issue of long-term planning.
It’s not enough to respond to these crises as they arise.
Other countries have adopted forward-looking policies that involve detailed assessments of future special education needs, ensuring schools are built or expanded before capacity becomes a crisis.
Government departments in Ireland have the data, so it’s hard to understand why there’s no such policy here.
At the most basic level, every child has a right to an education.
Parents shouldn’t have to embark on legal battles or plead with politicians to secure that right.
For the nine children in Donegal, every day without a school place will be a day of lost learning, lost opportunity and lost potential – a high price for government inadequacy.
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