Debate contribution: Special Educational Needs Coordinators

Debate contribution by Mr Jon Burrows on 28 April 2026.

MLA

Mr Jon Burrows

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

28 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Special Educational Needs Coordinators

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5510253

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I will be brief, because there is a unanimous view in the Chamber that SENCOs are worth their weight in gold, as are classroom assistants. They provide support to the most vulnerable in our society, and it is right that we support them. If we are honest about the situation, they are being asked to do too many things. Coordinating the special educational needs provision for our young people is a vital, highly skilled and highly demanding full-time role. For SENCOs to do that while dealing with the excess bureaucracy that they face as well as being teachers is not sustainable and is not fair. I therefore support the motion. It is clear from my engagement with the teaching profession that teachers, almost without exception, believe that being a SENCO should be a full-time role. We need to arrive at that position, but we also need to look at the wider pressures that SENCOs face from excess bureaucracy. They face a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy. Things are not streamlined. There is insufficient support from the EA. All of that needs to be looked at. It is not simply about saying that a SENCO should be non-teaching. That is one vital aspect, but it needs to be backed up by giving SENCOs the proper skills, proper accreditation and proper support, by reducing the administration and by letting them do their job, which is to coordinate the best care for children who have special educational needs. I agree with Mr Martin's comment. We have an issue in our society with the exponentially growing number of children with special educational needs. I do not know whether, as a society, we have fully understood what that means for us, what is causing it, how we should deal with it, how we should support parents who are dealing with it and how we should look at the impact that it might have in the future. If we give those young people the right support, many of them will be able to go on and have a job, but unless we get it right —.

Absolutely. The need for reform is absolutely compelling. Of course, reform has to be the correct reform. It has to be sustainable. It has to make sure that there is no burnout. If we are honest, there are some children who will never go into the workplace. Some of them are in my family. They just need support, love and care and to be given the best quality of life. However, there are children who can go into the workforce, have a job and do all those things, which is why this is so important, because it will combat future economic inactivity. That is why we need to find the money to get special educational needs provision right. I fully support the motion. I am glad that it was moved.

Yes, I will.

I raised the issue in Westminster and said that, at some stage, as a nation — I will include the Republic of Ireland, because we had the North/South Ministerial Council statement today, so I will extend it to the five regions that make up our two islands — we need collectively to look at what is happening across Europe and understand the issue with SEN. There is an increase in numbers that teachers have never seen before. The whole Executive need to grapple with the issue, because, otherwise, education is going to cost far more than it ever has done before. That is the reality. That involves looking at early years and at nought-to-five, which is an issue for the Department of Health, as well as for parents. It is a societal issue that we have to grasp. If we do not, we face a future in which the children will not get the help that they need, in which our workforce will not have the people it needs and in which parents at home will not have the support that they need.

I am moving slightly away from the subject, but summer schemes for children with special educational needs last for only two weeks. I know parents who want to work and contribute to the economy, but they cannot, because they have to look after their child as their school is closed. Not investing in such schemes costs us more than we are saving. Moreover, children who have progressed in school are considered to be going backwards because they have not had the routine of being in their school for six weeks or eight weeks. I support the motion and am glad that it was tabled for debate. The Executive and society collectively need to take an honest, hard look nationally at the exponential rise in special educational needs to determine how we are going to manage the situation end to end throughout its life cycle. I am humbled when I go into schools and meet the men and women who support our children with special needs. I thank them and value them, and I want to make sure that they see that value in their pay packet, in their terms and conditions and in their professional accreditations.

862 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:31 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification