HUNDREDS OF SCHOOL principals have signed a petition calling for the Department of Education to reinstate pupils’ complex needs as a consideration in allocating special education teaching hours to schools.

A change that is set to take effect this September would reduce many schools’ special education resources, according to the National Principals’ Forum, which has launched a petition signed by 730 primary school principals to reverse the plan.

Last month, the Department of Education published the details of changes that are set to apply to the 2024/25 school year following a review that began in 2022.

One of the core changes is the removal of “complex needs” as a criteria for the allocation of special education teacher adults – this includes children with autism, ADHD and Down Syndrome, among other conditions.

Minister of Education Norma Foley has said that 67% of schools should see no change, or an improvement, in the number of special education teaching hours they are allocated, but 23% will see their existing allocation reduced by up to five hours per week and 10% by between five and 25 hours.

In a statement this morning, Alan Kelly from the National Principals’ Forum said: “The vast majority of principals are saying that children are not receiving the support they need. Surely we need to be listening to the voices on the ground?”

“The Department of Education divides the allocations up into fragments of positions. School Principals are left to try and make up full-time posts,” Kelly said.

“This has resulted in huge uncertainty for hundreds of teachers around the country as principals try and find small numbers of hours from schools around the country,” he said.

Principals fear that removing the complex needs criteria will make the already-difficult task of working with their allocated hours even more challenging.

Autism charity AsIAm has previously criticised the change, outlining that children starting school in September who have high support needs are at risk of receiving inadequate support.

The charity said the change will impact the most vulnerable children in schools and mean some will now not be able to access mainstream education who otherwise might have.