Written answers

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs

9:00 pm

Photo of Sandra McLellanSandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 238: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an assessment will be carried out in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cork who needs extra help with their junior certificate in June, in view of the fact that this cannot be sought until an assessment has been carried out. [5452/12]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I can inform the Deputy that all primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are on the Department's website. Where a NEPS psychologist is not assigned to a school, authorities therein may access psychological assessments through SCPA. Under this scheme schools can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved by NEPS, and NEPS will pay the psychologist the fees for this assessment directly.

I have made enquiries in relation to the student detailed in the question and can inform the Deputy that the school which she attends currently is assigned a NEPS psychologist.

It should also be noted that in common with many other psychological services, NEPS encourages a staged assessment process, whereby each school takes responsibility for a pupil's initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention in consultation with their assigned NEPS psychologist. Only if there is a failure to make reasonable progress in spite of the school's best efforts, will a child be referred for individual psychological assessment. It is the responsibility of the school Principal in the first instance to identify and prioritise pupils for assessment under the process described above.

I would suggest that the parents of the student in question should discuss the matter with the school Principal who will advise them as to the appropriateness of a referral in this instance and the process for accessing same.

Additionally students with permanent or long-term conditions, including visual and hearing difficulties, or specific learning difficulties, which they believe will significantly impair their performance in the Junior or Leaving Certificate examinations may apply to the State Examinations Commission (SEC) for a reasonable accommodation to be made to facilitate them taking the examinations. The reasonable accommodations are intended to: (a.) remove, as far as possible, the impact of the disability on the candidate's performance and thus enable the candidate to demonstrate his or her level of attainment and (b.) ensure that, whilst giving candidates every opportunity to demonstrate their level of attainment, the special arrangements will not give the candidate an unfair advantage over other candidates in the same examination.

Again I would advise that the student's parents raise, with the school Principal, the potential or appropriateness of submitting an application to the SEC in this instance.

Should school authorities have specific difficulties with regard any of the foregoing I would suggest that they raise the matter with their assigned NEPS psychologist for advise or clarification (NEPS Southern Regional Office, Tel: 021- 4536358).

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