Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 October 2013
228. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to an incident in respect of a child (details supplied) being formally suspended initially for three days subsequently followed by a ten day extension of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42260/13]
View answer229. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Education and Skills the current guidelines set out by Department with regard to suspension of special needs children arising from alleged incidents within a school facility; the guidelines that exist for the withdrawal of school services for a special needs child; the alternative or supports that will be put in place by the Department during this period; if formal guidelines are in place setting out how school should interact with parents/guardians in such instances. [42261/13]
View answer230. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in detail the procedures in place to determine whether a child’s needs (details supplied) in County Louth are currently being met within the current school attended; if the current school cannot meet these needs, to whom does responsibility fall to provide alternative arrangements; if he will outline if such situations are under the remit of a multi disciplinary team and if so which Departments would be involved. [42262/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 228 to 230, inclusive, together.
I wish to firstly advise the Deputy that my Department provides for a continuum of special educational provision to be made available for children with special educational needs, so that regardless of the level of need of the child, educational provision can be made for them. My Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools which have enrolled pupils with special educational needs in order to ensure that, wherever a child is enrolled, s/he will have access to an appropriate education.
These supports include an allocation of additional teaching support as well as additional resource teaching and Special Needs Assistant (SNA) care supports which may be allocated to schools by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in respect of qualifying pupils.
Some children may be fully integrated into mainstream schools without additional teaching or care supports. Others are able to attend mainstream schools but need additional teaching and/or care assistance. In respect of children who cannot be accommodated in mainstream education, they may be enrolled in special classes or special schools where more intensive and supportive interventions are provided.
The extent of supports required for any child in a particular class setting or school will depend on their disability categorisation and the extent of care needs that they may have. As such, schools have access to a full range of supports to facilitate the enrolment of pupils with special educational needs.
I wish to explain also that the Board of Management of each school, including Special Schools, is required to prepare a code of behaviour in accordance with Section 23 of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000.
To assist schools in formulating such a code, the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) has developed guidelines for schools on Codes of Behaviour The Act also requires that a school Code of Behaviour shall specify the standards of behaviour that shall be observed by each student attending the school, the measures that may be taken when a student fails or refuses to observe those standards and the procedures to be followed before a student may be suspended or expelled from the school concerned.
Schools may also seek advice from their local National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) psychologist, from their NCSE Special Educational Needs Organiser, or from the National Behavioural Support Services, as to how children with behavioural needs can best be supported in schools.
My Department also recently published new Guidelines for Schools on Supporting Students with Behavioural, Emotional, and Social difficulties, which are available on my Departments website at www.education.ie.
In circumstances where a child has been suspended or expelled, Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 provides for an appeal by a parent or guardian to the Secretary General of my Department, or in the case of a Educational Training Board (ETB) school to the ETB in the first instance, where a Board of Management of a school, or a person acting on behalf of the Board, refuses to enrol a student in a school, expels a student or suspends a student for 20 or more days in any school year. In such circumstances the parent of the child concerned may lodge a Section 29 appeal against the decision of the school to expel or suspend and to have this case heard by an independent appeal panel.
Finally, I can advise that the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) is the statutory agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The NEWB may offer assistance and advice on securing a school placement if necessary. The contact details for the NEWB is National Educational Welfare Board, 16-22 Green Street, Dublin 7, phone number 01-8738700.
