Fórsa trade union, which represents more than 14,000 special needs assistants (SNAs) nationwide has welcomed reports that the Minister for Education, Helen McEntee TD, is to ask the Teaching Council to ensure student teachers have mandatory assessed placements in special needs settings, supported by appropriate modules.
Responding to reports today, Fórsa’s head of Education, Andy Pike, said the minister’s proposals would be beneficial for students and families: “We see real value here, both in terms of the benefits for students with additional needs and their families, but also making a positive and longer-term improvement to the school culture and environment for all students.
“The new training proposal also provides teachers with an insight into the work of their SNA colleagues, which is really positive, and will help newly trained teachers enormously in relating to students with additional needs and building on those connections in the classroom” he said.
Fórsa trade union represents 18,000 staff in schools and early education, as well as clerical, administrative, management staff in technological universities and education and training boards.
The union’s Education Division will hold its biennial conference in at the Galway Bay Hotel from the 23rd to the 25th of April 2025.
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