Under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998, where a school Board of Management permanently excludes a student from school, that decision may be appealed, either to the relevant Vocational Educational Committee in the first instance, or to the Secretary General of my Department. Only where an appeal has been upheld by a Section 29 committee may the Secretary General of my Department direct that a pupil be readmitted to a school.
No Section 29 appeal application has yet been received by my Department in respect of this child.
The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) is the body which has statutory responsibility to assist parents in securing a school placement for their child. Where a student has been expelled, the NEWB will assist parents to find an alternative school placement for their child and may also offer advice to parents on taking a Section 29 appeal or as to the possibility of Home Tuition support being made available to the child pending the sourcing of a new school placement.
The NEWB have advised that they have been in contact with the family concerned regarding this case and are continuing to offer assistance and advice to them.
As outlined in my predecessor's reply of 9th February 2010, all primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA) which is administered by NEPS.
I can confirm that my Department's National Educational Psychological Service has not received a request from Confey College school authorities in relation to this case. I can further inform you that a review of the pupil's medical condition and in particular his medication would fall outside the province of my Department, its agents and schools authorities and would be a matter for consideration by a qualified medical practitioner.
