Forsa will hold a seminar today to highlight the need for Special Needs Assistants to get the right entrant qualification.
It wants them to receive continuing professional development so they can support students with a more inclusive education system.
The union will host the online event from 11am, to discuss how to train SNAs in schools and prepare them for the role.
Fórsa Head of Education, Andy Pike says the minimum qualification at the moment needs to be updated:
"The qualification for SNAs hasn't been changed for 40 years. It was set in 1979 at 3 passes, D-grade passes, in the Junior Certificate. It's never really been reviewed since then. So it's really out of step with what is required in a modern education system, considering the way in which the role of the SNA has changed over the last 40 years."
