National Parents’ and Siblings’ Alliance.
Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003 September 2003 Section A
Summary
Below is a summary that highlights matters which might be of interest to parents of children with special educational needs. Its purpose is to give a broad overview of the Bill. However, it should be emphasised that the only sure way to understand the whole Bill is to read it. 1. The National Council for Special Education (Council) The Council has been set up to oversee the provision of educational services to children with special needs up to the age of eighteen. It is the duty of the Council to: · Disseminate information to schools and parents on best practise
· Plan & co-ordinate education & support services · Plan & co-ordinate for integration · Make available to parents, information on entitlements · Ensure progress is monitored and reviewed and a continuum of education is available · Review and publish reports on health board provisions · Review the provisions that exist for higher education and publish reports on such reviews · Advise all educational institutions on best practice · Advise the Minister on relevant matters · Arrange for research on matters relevant to the Council · Assess and review resources required · Keep and maintain records of schools providing services to students with special educational needs(SEN) and students receiving supports for SEN. Membership of the Council: The Council has twelve ordinary members and a Chairperson. These are appointed by the Minister (see “Issues with the Bill”, Section B, page 5, below) Implementation Plan: Within 12 months from the Establishment Day (this must be set by the Minister within twelve months of the passing of the Act) the Council must produce an implementation report. This report must be fully implemented within 5 years from the Establishment Day. The report must state dates for the commencement of all the provisions of the Act. 2. Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) Each SENO will be assigned to a number of schools in a certain area (they will each be responsible for approximately 450 students with special needs). Their duties are as stated below. The SENO: · Acts as liaison between the Council and the school, parents, etc.
· Arranges for assessments to be carried out when informed by the school. 3. Assessment A child may be assessed in the following ways: · By the principal of a school:
o If he decides the child is not benefiting from his/her work in school he may take measures to correct this.
· By the Council, if requested by a health board.o If this fails he will, after consultation with the parents, cause an assessment to be carried out. This may be done by the principal, a teacher on the staff or by the Council. (Following this, an education plan is prepared either by the principal or the SENO). · By the Council, if requested by a parent, who must have grounds for the request. This could mean the provision of relevant documents. This includes the situation where the child is under four and is not a student in a school. Issues Related to Assessments: Time Scales:
Where the principal decides an
assessment should be carried out, it must commence within one month of
such a decision and be completed within three.
In the case of the Council or health board the assessment must commence within one month and be completed “without undue delay” Who Carries out the Assessment? · Where the principal carries out assessment, there are no conditions attached to who might take part
NOTE:· All Other Assessments: The assessment team must consist of one or more of the following: o A psychologist
o A medical practitioner o The child’s school principal or his representative o A social worker o A suitably qualified therapist i. While
parents are not specifically listed as being part of the team, the
person/body arranging the assessment must facilitate “in a manner
that is consistent with the assessment being carried out effectively,
the participation by parents.”
ii. Parents must be given a copy of the assessment results immediately the assessment has been carried out iii. Parents may appeal the outcome of an assessment to the Appeals Board iv. Assessments cannot be carried out without informing the parents v. Professionals carrying out assessments must have qualifications acceptable to the health board or the Council. 4. The Education Plan: The Education plan must contain the following: · The nature & degree of disability
· The child’s level of performance · The special educational needs of the child · Outcomes or goals over a specified period – no more than 12 months · At the appropriate time it must include provisions for transition to primary/second/third level Appeals in Relation to the Plan: Parents may appeal the process of preparing the Plan or its contents. This must be heard within two months. Review of Plan: · The
plan must be reviewed annually by the principal. Parents must
receive a report of that review.
· The purpose of the review is to see if the child has received the services stated in the Plan and has achieved the stated goals. · Parents may apply for a review if no review has occurred in the previous six months. If the principal agrees the review takes place. · There is right of appeal to the Appeals Board. Who is involved in the preparation of a Plan: · If
prepared by the principal: The parents, the SENO, the principal
and others deemed appropriate by the principal
· If prepared by the Council: o The child, where appropriate
o The parents, if they wish o A psychologist with sufficient expertise o Any other appropriately qualified person nominated by the parents or the SENO NOTE: Parents must be given a copy of the Plan.
5. Special Education Appeals Board Its purpose is to adjudicate in the following areas: · Assessment (to be carried out within two months)
· The Education Plan · Education & training provision for people over the age of 18 6. Continuing Education In preparing a Plan, when the child is approaching adulthood, any review must take into account the needs of the person with special needs at that stage and particularly any remedial action which might be required to ensure a smooth transition from school to the next stage. 7. Provision for Mediation: If a complaint is made to the Minister that a person with Special Educational Needs is not getting an appropriate service or if a parent decides to go to court then a mediation service may be made available. If the matter is brought to court the court may take into account the fact that the parents did or did not avail of the mediation or did not take part in the mediation in good faith. 8. Designation of a School: The Council may designate a school as the one to which a child with special educational needs is to be sent. This will be done following consideration of the views of the parents and the child. (See Section B, page 6, below) 9. The Role of the Health Boards: The Bill places a duty on health boards to cooperate with the council in providing a seamless service to the child. A liaison officer will be appointed by each health board to ensure that this cooperation is achieved. 10. Other: ·
Appeals: There is a facility, on most occasions, to appeal decisions
made by schools, health boards or the Council.
· Time Frames: Most decisions of schools, the Council or health boards must be taken within specified time-frames. · Consultative Forum: This may be set up by the Council to give it advice. It may have parent and management representatives, (as a matter of interest, it must have gender balance. · Committees: May be formed by the Council and may have members other than Council members. Sections B
Some Issues with the Bill B1: The Education Plan: It is intended that it should be prepared by a “team” convened by the SENO. At present, however, schools cannot get even one psychologist from the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) let alone a “team” B2. The Composition of the Council: The Council “shall be appointed by the Minister from among persons who have a special interest or knowledge relating to the education of children with special educational needs” (Section 20). These will include: · Four
people nominated by the Minister from parents’ associations,
recognised trade unions and staff associations.
· Two people nominated by the NDA · One person nominated by the Minister for Health There is no onus on the Minister to appoint parents onto the Council. However, “the minister shall have regard to the desirability of there being amongst those appointed ….. persons who have themselves special educational needs, their parents and representatives” (The Minister must consider gender balance. The “Minister must ensure that at least 6 of the members of the Council are women and at least 6 of them are men”) B3. The Definition of Special Educational Needs: This was the section which caused most debate in the Dail and outside. The final definition (see below) has gone a long way towards resolving most of the issues. However, time will tell if this is fully satisfactory: ‘‘special educational needs’’ means, in relation to a person, a restriction in the capacity of the person to participate in and benefit from education on account of an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or learning disability, or any other condition which results in a person learning differently from a person without that condition and cognate words shall be construed accordingly; B4. Inclusive Education: Section 2 deals with inclusive education (that is, where everyone, if at all possible, is educated in a mainstream situation). While accepting this as an ideal worth aiming towards, the problem is that the Bill fails to make allowances for people who might wish to be educated in a mainstream school but who are not capable of coping in a mainstream class. That is, there is reference only to mainstream classes or special schools. No mention is made of special classes within mainstream schools. While the Bill does not state that such classes are not acceptable it reinforces a DES view that these should be avoided. B5. Designation of a School: In discussions in the Dail, the Minister indicated that this section is included to force reluctant schools to take students with special needs. This does seem to be the Minister’s genuine intention. However, some people fear that, rather than ensuring all schools have children with special needs as a normal part of their intake, it will end up that a relatively small number of schools will be seen as “special” mainstream school. If this were to happen it would defeat the whole concept of mainstreaming and inclusion. B6. Mediation: There is a fear that the mediation will be used as a stalling mechanism if, and when, parents have decided to take legal action. The Minister’s response to that is that it will be done by an independent body that would not be likely to waste time. Once again, it is a matter of seeing how it turns out. However, if there was a long waiting list for mediation, it is difficult to see how a court would expect parents to jeopardise their child’s education by joining such a waiting list. B7. The Bill only applies to students up to the age of eighteen: When questioned on this issue the minister responded by saying that the Disabilities Bill will cater for people over eighteen. It is important that this should be the case because a person with a disability is more likely to be still in a mainstream class after that age. Once again we’ll wait and see. B8. Provision of Resources (Section 13) There has been much debate over this section. Does it give people with disabilities an unconditional right to educational services or is it once again a fudge? The arguments in favour say that the reference to Article 42 of the Constitution (the right of every child in the State to an appropriate education) is enough to ensure sufficient resources will be provided. Also, the mediation service should guarantee that anyone who loses out will be catered for before they need to take court action. Those against, say it will be business as usual in the courts. Yet again, the jury is out on this one. |