Union meets all sides on SNA reallocations
by Bernard Harbor
 
The union has stressed the need for improved communication, and this was acknowledged by the DES and HSE.
The union has stressed the need for improved communication, and this was acknowledged by the DES and HSE.

Fórsa took part in discussions on the SNA temporary reassignment proposals earlier this week. The talks involved representatives from the education and health departments, the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), and the HSE.

 

The union’s head of education, Andy Pike, said the discussions saw all parties committing to delivering a service for students with special educational needs while schools are closed, with SNAs supporting their allocated students.

 

“SNAs will be asked to provide a remote service supporting those students already in receipt of HSE disability services. This means SNAs can work safely, and it safeguards the position of those who have caring responsibilities or underlying health conditions,” he said.

 

The HSE and the Department of Education and Skills (DES) will confirm arrangements shortly, and Fórsa will review all the documentation before it's issued to members.

 

The union also stressed the need for improved communication, and this was acknowledged by the DES and HSE.

 

Last week the union issued new advice to SNAs, and called for them to be deployed to support the students they normally work with, to ensure they have essential supports at a time of extreme stress. It said SNAs should give full cooperation to reassignments to:

  • Provide enhanced supports to the children who are familiar with them, on a remote basis, to help them navigate an unfamiliar and difficult period of relative isolation and absence of familiar school supports and routine, and to provide continued educational supports to them throughout this period, and
  • Provide new and additional supports to the parents, guardians and families of children with special educational needs, many of them working parents, who have been coping with school closures since 13th March.

Fórsa has told employers it would be damaging to children with special needs if SNAs were to be allocated to other roles in the absence of adequate supports for their students.

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