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17/10/2017
SNA's Need 'Timely And Proper Assurances' On Job Security
Special Needs Assistants need "timely and proper assurances" surrounding job security from the government, it has been said.
Labour Party Education spokesperson Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin made the call following the result of a nationwide ballot, in which some 8,000 IMPACT members voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action following delays to SNA allocation.
Senator Ó Ríordáin said: "Earlier this year the Minister for Education wrongly delayed announcing the allocation of Special Needs Assistants to schools, leaving SNAs, school management and children and their families in limbo.
"This delay tactic deployed by the Minister means that teachers and parents can't plan their school year adequately. It also impacts on the life of the SNA, who is kept in the dark as to whether they have a job or not for the following academic year.
"The 2016 Oireachtas Education Committee Report on the Role of the SNA recommended that SNA allocations need to be made earlier in the year. In line with this report, the Minister should seek to ensure that these allocations are made in March or April.
"SNAs should be entitled to decency and certainty in their workplace. As a former teacher and principal, I know the value of quality education in helping our special needs children fulfil their potential, we must treat those who educate our children with the respect that they deserve."
(MH/JP)
Labour Party Education spokesperson Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin made the call following the result of a nationwide ballot, in which some 8,000 IMPACT members voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action following delays to SNA allocation.
Senator Ó Ríordáin said: "Earlier this year the Minister for Education wrongly delayed announcing the allocation of Special Needs Assistants to schools, leaving SNAs, school management and children and their families in limbo.
"This delay tactic deployed by the Minister means that teachers and parents can't plan their school year adequately. It also impacts on the life of the SNA, who is kept in the dark as to whether they have a job or not for the following academic year.
"The 2016 Oireachtas Education Committee Report on the Role of the SNA recommended that SNA allocations need to be made earlier in the year. In line with this report, the Minister should seek to ensure that these allocations are made in March or April.
"SNAs should be entitled to decency and certainty in their workplace. As a former teacher and principal, I know the value of quality education in helping our special needs children fulfil their potential, we must treat those who educate our children with the respect that they deserve."
(MH/JP)
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