Children in special education in Northern Ireland are being failed due to lack of funding and staff, the mother of a child in the sector has said.
The comments came as scores of parents of children in special education took part in a protest at Parliament Buildings in Belfast calling for better pay for school workers.
They held placards which read phrases such as “My Child Matters”, “You’re Paid, Pay Them”, “My Child Is Not A Pawn” and “My Child Is Non-Verbal. I Am Not”, as they walked to the steps of Stormont on Monday morning to voice their frustration.
The parents were met by a number of MLAs including Kate Nicholl and Nick Mathison from the Alliance Party and Gerry Carroll from People Before Profit.
The sector has been hit by industrial action as staff call for better pay and a grading review.
The parents are calling for the Department of Education to allocate the funding for the workers to end the action.
Deborah Maguire from Belfast has a seven-year-old child with autism, ADHD and severe learning difficulties who is non-verbal.
“At the minute it is so under-funded, there are not enough staff to actually give the support and give the help, and these children are being failed every single day in their education,” she told media.
“The schools are on their knees trying to support these children but unfortunately the funding is not there.
“Every day you see more and more advertisements for the job places for support in SEN schools, the wage scales are so low that those who are in the positions do not have enough of an income to support their own families.
“And so they’re leaving the field which is compromising to the child’s mental health because with these conditions there needs to be a rapport built up between the staff member and child, to allow the child to feel safe enough to open up. The staff turn over is ridiculous.
