{"id":11754,"date":"2025-02-28T12:37:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T12:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=11754"},"modified":"2025-02-28T12:37:35","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T12:37:35","slug":"education-system-is-failing-families-of-children-with-special-educational-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/education-system-is-failing-families-of-children-with-special-educational-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Education system is failing families of children with special educational needs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Government must urgently address the severe shortage of special school places across the country, according to Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins, ahead of today\u2019s protest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deputy Cummins, the party\u2019s&#8217; spokesperson for Education, said:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI stand in solidarity with the parents and guardians participating in today&#8217;s 24-hour sleep-out protest outside the Department of Education.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey aim to highlight the ongoing crisis in securing appropriate school placements for children with special educational needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn 2025, it is utterly unacceptable that parents are left with no other choice than to fight for the very basics for their children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOur education system is failing these families, and immediate, decisive action is required to address this injustice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMany children cannot access suitable educational settings &#8211; parents are at their wits&#8217; end trying to secure school places for this academic year, which is a basic human right of every child in this country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe need comprehensive planning and resource allocation to meet the needs of all students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;The current situation highlights a significant deficiency in the Department&#8217;s forward planning and stakeholder engagement &#8211; we need to ensure that every child has access to the education they deserve.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Department of Education must communicate directly with the affected families and implement immediate measures to expand capacity in special education.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThese children cannot afford to wait &#8211; their futures depend on the actions we take today.&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">February 28th, 2025<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Government must urgently address the severe shortage of special school places across the country, according to Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins, ahead of today\u2019s protest. Deputy Cummins, the party\u2019s&#8217; spokesperson for Education, said: \u201cI stand in solidarity with the parents and guardians participating in today&#8217;s 24-hour sleep-out protest outside the Department of Education.\u00a0 \u201cThey aim [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[540,218,581,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children","category-education","category-jen-cummins","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Education system is failing families of children with special educational needs - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/education-system-is-failing-families-of-children-with-special-educational-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Education system is failing families of children with special educational needs - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Government must urgently address the severe shortage of special school places across the country, according to Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins, ahead of today\u2019s protest. 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