Friday, 06.11.2009
College staff 'must change attitudes to teaching disabled students'

COLLEGE staff need to change their methods and their attitudes to teaching students with disabilities, it was claimed. The number of third-level students with disabilities has risen significantly and applications for third-level places from people with disabilities or specific learning difficulties rose by a quarter this year, but the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD) believes much more can be done to facilitate these students.

"There are more than 4,000 students with disabilities studying in higher education. They can learn and want to learn, but they learn differently, for example, by using e-books and other technology to read and write," said AHEAD director Ann Heelan.

She was addressing a seminar to launch the association's Charter of Inclusive Teaching and Learning, which sets out minimum components for inclusive education.

"It strives to describe and encourage the good practices that should be consistently delivered across all third-level education to all students, as opposed to the current situation where individuals are setting excellent examples of such practice in patches across the country," she said.

"The biggest barrier to making changes stick is stereotypical assumptions by some staff who fail to see the potential behind the disability, or appreciated the need to alter the way they teach," she said.

The most recent figures show that 4.2% of new entrants to higher education have a disability, and an average of 5% of places are to be offered from next year to students with a disability at more than 10 universities and other third-level colleges. The Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) initiative recognises the impact of disability on educational attainment and will offer places to 1,000 applicants, including those with Leaving Certificate points below the requirement for other students.

Meanwhile, a new campaign group led by parents of vocational school students is calling for 7% of national income to be set aside for education, to protect current resources in schools and prevent further cutbacks in next month's budget.

Jackie O'Callaghan, secretary of the National Parents Association for Vocational Schools and Community Colleges, said the current 4.7% spend is well below the OECD average of 5.7%.

"There are alternatives to the current menu of cuts which the Government is proposing. We have been railroaded into thinking that cuts to our public services is the only way to tackle our economic deficit," she said at the launch of Stand Up for Education, which is sponsored by the Teachers' Union of Ireland.