Two New Special Schools To Open In Kildare Area Next September

Wednesday, 6 December 2023 09:51

By Martin Osborne

Parents across Kildare have been highlighting the struggle to find school places for their children.

Two new special schools announced for the Kildare area, one in South Kildare and the other in Enfield, will be ready to go in time for next September.

Speaking in response to the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis within the education sector, Special Education Minister Josepha Madigan says children who attend the schools will have the resources they need.

Parents across Kildare have been highlighting the struggle to find school places for their children.

The schools will cater for young people with autism and complex learning needs up to 18 years of age.

Four new special schools are planned for Kildare, Limerick, Meath and Wexford.

The precise locations of the schools is not being revealed presently as some final agreements have to be agreed with stakeholders.

The schools will be established by renovating existing school buildings which are no longer used to modern standards, or by repurposing school buildings on school campuses with spare capacity.

Minister Madigan said: “We absolutely want to make sure that when we open a new school, or indeed even a special class in a mainstream school, we want to make sure that they’re fully resourced."

She added: "There’s no point having a building where there are no children in it, in the first instance, or, second of all, children who don’t have either the devices or equipment that they need or indeed their Special Needs Assistant or Special Education Teacher."