Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister says that special schools were not excluded but there was a promise that they would be included in the terms of reference and that was certainly not the case. As it currently stands, there is no provision for guidance in special schools that teach the primary school curriculum. However, this completely ignores the fact that students up to the age of 18 attend these schools. It was the National Disability Authority that advised that these schools should be included in the terms of reference of the review and as far as I understand, representatives of the Department of Education and Skills provided assurances that they would be. This has not happened. As the submissions are closing this Friday, I ask the Minister to extend that time and clarify why special schools were given an assurance that they would be included and then were not.

To return to the point about students up to the age of 18, it really is unacceptable that there is no career guidance module or system for students just because they are attending a special school. If there is a review of that system it is the perfect opportunity to include special schools and to be inclusive about these things. I do not think we should let that opportunity pass.

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