(UK) Northern Ireland: "Rising number of pupils with special educational needs/ disabilities"

July 22, 2019, Breaking News: Calls for Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley to act on 'crisis-hit' schools https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/calls-for-northern-ireland-secretary-karen-bradley-to-act-on-crisis-hit-schools-938630.html The Children's Commissioner has backed calls for Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley to act over the region's "crisis-hit" education system. Westminster's Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has urged Ms Bradley to increase the education budget and to introduce regulations previously agreed by the Stormont Assembly before its collapse in 2017. In a report published on Monday, the committee concluded that in the two-and-a-half-year absence of devolved government a growing funding crisis has resulted in unmanageable pressures on school budgets. It found that the rising number of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) is a key driver of the trend. The committee concluded that Northern Ireland's schools urgently need more money to address the growing pressures…. Additionally, many schools have struggled to provide support to the growing number of students with Send, who require dedicated support….