Minister criticised over special school closures

THE Education Minister has been urged to ‘get to grips’ with the staffing crisis currently facing special schools.

This follows an emergency appeal from a substitute teacher body and the forced early half-term closure of Arvalee Special School in Omagh.

Nicola Brogan, West Tyrone MLA, is calling on the Education Minister to have a plan in place so schools can ‘re-open safely’ after the mid-term.

She said, “I have deep concerns over reports that some special schools have had to close early for the mid-term due to staff absences and a lack of available substitute cover, including Arvalee School in Omagh.

“Accessing appropriately qualified teachers for special schools has been a long-running problem throughout the pandemic and successive DUP Education Ministers have failed to get to grips with the issue.

“That failure means that our special school leaders are left with no choice but to close, which is deeply upnsettling for staff, pupils and their families.

“I am calling on the minister to get a plan in place to support these schools so they can re-open safely after the mid-term.

“The disruption to education during the pandemic has severely impacted children with special educational needs.”

The Education Authority (EA) said that special schools are finding it difficult to source staff and the lack of substitutes has led to class cancellations.

In a statement, the EA said, “Special schools are facing increased challenges in sourcing and recruiting staff.

“The limited availability of substitute teaching and non-teaching staff has, in some cases, resulted in a number of class closures.”