Sunday Herald, 08/06/2003

A pupil with special educational needs should be counted as six "ordinary" pupils when calculating class sizes, according to members of Scotland's largest teaching union.

At the annual general meeting of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) in Perth on June 7, delegates warned that a lack of resources and trained staff to cope with some special-needs children was leading to chaotic classrooms and increasing disruption and violence from a number of pupils.

Current policy dictates that the education of pupils with physical or mental disabilities, or social and behavioural difficulties, should take place in mainstream schools wherever possible. However, a recent Audit Scotland report found that the planning for this policy had been patchy and minimal and was often not properly costed.

While many teachers support the principle of social inclusion in the classroom, that should not be at the expense of classmates or even the children with special needs themselves, delegates were told.

By equating each special educational needs (SEN) pupil with six ordinary pupils, the EIS aimed to address the concern that the principle was not being backed up with adequate funding.

In the past, SEN pupils would often have been educated in special schools, but many local authorities are moving away from this model. This means that pupils who would previously have been taught in much smaller classes in special schools are now often taught alongside other pupils in classes of 30 or more (the current class limit is 33).

Patrick Boyle, of Renfrewshire local association, told the conference that such pupils were being moved from schools where there was a ratio of eight children to one teacher into classes of 30, which often contained more than one pupil with special needs. He called for a "reality check" about whether teachers in large classes could cope with pupils who would previously have enjoyed much higher staffing ratios.

Ian McCrone, also representing Renfrewshire association, said that equating one such pupil with six "normal" pupils would ensure there was no loss of support for the special-needs child. "In a mainstream school, you could have six pupils with special needs in a class of 33. The logic of this is that ... if you have more SEN pupils, you have a smaller number of pupils in the class."

But the move provoked a row, with opposition from a number of delegates who argued that measuring special-needs pupils in terms of an equivalent number of "ordinary" pupils was a clumsy method, and might further stigmatise those with special needs.

Adeline Thomson, of East Renfrewshire local association, said it was wrong to make generalisations about how much assistance pupils would need. A wheelchair user or a blind child might need little or no help, and a child with an autistic spectrum disorder could need intensive one-to-one support.

George MacBride, of Glasgow local association, said the EIS risked labelling pupils. "Mainstreaming education is not about one-size-fits-all in a crude way. Labelling pupils is not helpful, and we should make sure their needs are met without discriminating against them."

Innes Young, of North Ayrshire association, said: "This sends the wrong message to parents. We should let them know we see their child as special. One special-needs child representing six 'normal' children is not a healthy message."

An amendment removing the contentious figure was defeated on a show of hands and delegates voted by a large majority to campaign for a drastic reduction in pupil-teacher ratios, based on a formula which would see one SEN pupil counted as six pupils.

However, the decision was greeted with bemusement by a parents' organisation set up to promote the inclusion of children with disabilities. Laura Bowden, director of the Equity Group, said: "I would like to know how they settled on the figure of six. Not all children with special needs are the same and it is bizarre to talk as if they were. I don't see how you can say that every child with special needs will take the time and resources of six other pupils. Rather than putting every child in the same box, teachers should take every child on an individual basis. This will only increase concern and seems like scaremongering."

Earlier, delegates had heard a number of accounts of the problems caused by inclusion policies being introduced without sufficient support for teachers.

Linzi Moore, president of South Lanarkshire association, told delegates that one pupil at her school had assaulted another with a hammer. "The level of pupil indiscipline is rising, and violence against teachers and other pupils has dramatically increased," she said.

Olwen McGarvey, of Renfrewshire, said that, on one occasion, two members of staff had been kicked and spat on by a pupil while on a school trip. "One was kicked in the chest and they had spittle in their eyes and their mouths," she said. "We should accept that there are a small number of pupils who shouldn't be in mainstream schools."

On June 6,  Ronnie Smith, general secretary of the EIS, said that social inclusion policies should be properly funded, and called on Scotland's First Minister, Jack McConnell, to crack down on misconduct in schools.

He said: "I heartily endorse the First Minister's statement to Parliament last week when he stated: 'Constant acts of vandalism, theft, intimidation and graffiti grind people down and destroy neighbourhoods.' Let me remind the First Minister, they also grind teachers down and can destroy schools."