West Cork pupils forced to commute for up to four hours daily over lack of special school
West Hours St Jack Year Old From Son Cork, Assistance Cork Special School His Linehan City Kilmeen, Sarah Dog And Eight With Dan Her Jack In Special And To Muting Gabriel's Chloe O'donovan, Picture: Spends
West Cork children are being forced to travel for up to four hours a day in buses and taxis to attend special schools in Cork City because of the lack of such a facility in their area.
The exhausting commute means many of them miss out on crucial therapies and after-school activities.
“Some of these children spend as little as an hour a day at school and travel 1.5 hours each way or more,” said Laura O’Mahoney, one of the parents behind the West Cork Special School Campaign. The group has identified up to 60 children who would benefit from a special school now or in the future.
“We know that there are 15 children currently travelling to the city for school from west of Bandon. For these children, special classes did not work out for various reasons,” she said.
Laura’s six-year-old son Max travels daily by taxi to his school in Mayfield from his home near Clonakilty, a commute that takes an hour and 20 minutes each way, and longer if the traffic is bad.
Eight-year-old Jack O'Donovan attends St Gabriel’s Special School in Bishopstown and spends almost four hours every day commuting from his home near Clonakilty in West Cork.
“The children of West Cork only get bused to the city if their needs are very severe or complex. There is no other option so it is only ever suggested as a last resort,” said Ms O'Mahoney.
Professionals will not recommend a special school unless it is absolutely necessary because of the travel that would be involved for the child, she added.
The campaign has so far received 31 requests from parents for a special school for West Cork, for children based in areas such as Innishannon, Ballineen, Ballingeary, Rosscarbery, Timoleague, Clonakilty, Clogagh, Dunmanway, Bandon, Drimoleague, and Ballymakeera.
“We would like to know if the Government has a plan for the special needs children of West Cork. It feels like a postcode lottery. Our children are being bused and taxied out of their communities when they have a legal right to attend a suitable local school,” said Ms O'Mahoney.
“We strongly believe that there is a sufficient number of children, and teens, in the West Cork area that require a special school place now or at some point in the very near future.”
A spokesman for the Department of Education said that the department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient special class and special school places.
Five new special schools have been established over the last three years, with two of these in Co Cork. One of the new schools, Rochestown Community Special School, will have space for 24 children initially.
“This new school will grow to accommodate over 60 students over the next few years. This new school will bring the number of special schools in Co Cork to 15 special schools catering for approximately 1,000 students,” said the spokesman.
The NCSE is engaging with special schools in relation to the provision of places for the 2023/2024 school year, he added. There are a significant number of places being made available in Cork special schools as determined by each school’s published admission notice, he said.
“The Department and the NCSE will continue to monitor the position regarding special school places in Cork for the coming school year, including where children are based and their travel journeys, to inform any decision in relation to establishing a new special school.”