Why are children with special educational needs lining up at court to secure school places?
Despite the shortage of school places for special needs children being been flagged for many years, more than two dozen children are pursuing High Court action in a bid to secure a place that appropriately meets their educational needs for this September.
On Tuesday, the Department of Education is expected to make its case as families legally challenge the minister for education and youth, Helen McEntee, and the National Council for Special Education on their failure to provide their children with school places.
The shortage has been flagged for many years, and, on paper, there have never been as many autism classes open in mainstream schools. Eleven new special schools have been established in the last five years.
But despite this, a series of national protests and damning reports by children’s rights advocates, the scramble for a very limited number of suitable school places continued again this year.
Published in The Irish Examiner, 23rd June 2025