The National Principals’ Forum is concerned by proposals to move towards a New Brunswick-style education system without a clear commitment to the staffing, services and funding needed to make it work.
In its July statement to the Dáil, the NPF made clear that inclusion is not simply about where a child is educated. It is about ensuring that every child receives the support they need to participate and succeed. Schools are already responding to increasingly diverse and complex needs, while allocations and access to external supports are not keeping pace. Goodwill cannot indefinitely substitute for system capacity.
Any reform must be based on accurate information about pupils’ needs and backed by sustained, sufficient resourcing. Without those assurances, there is a real risk that responsibility will shift to mainstream schools without giving them the capacity to meet it. That would not strengthen inclusion; it would undermine it.