Special educational needs: No school guarantee for 20 children

About 15 families held a protest at the Education Authority's headquarters in Belfast on Wednesday

There is no guarantee that 20 children with special education needs (SEN) currently without a school place will receive one before September, the Education Authority (EA) has said.

However the authority's interim director said staff would be doing everything they could.

Cynthia Currie added there were not enough appropriate school places for children with SEN.

About 15 families held a protest at the authority's headquarters on Wednesday.

There were some heated exchanges during an unplanned meeting between officials from the authority and the parents of children still waiting on a place.

One parent, whose three-year-old needs a nursery school place, told BBC News NI they felt their child had been abandoned and accused the EA of negligence.

'Horrendous' experience

Kathy Murphy said her son Iarfhlaith, who has Down's syndrome, should have received a statement of SEN from the authority 18 weeks ago but the process had not yet finished.

An SEN statement is a legal document, which sets out a child's needs and the support they should have in school.

"In two weeks time when all his peers are starting in nursery, Iarfhlaith won't be," she said.

"The experience that we have had with the EA over the last few months has been absolutely horrendous.

"The distress and anxiety they have caused our family is unacceptable and really they need to be held accountable for it."

Ms Currie said the EA was working hard to make sure families had an answer as soon as possible.

"We spoke to some of those families this morning, we spoke to them about going away and looking at their individual cases.

"I really do feel for the families that don't have their place, we are doing everything we possibly can to progress that."

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When asked if the authority could guarantee those children a place, Ms Currie replied: "We certainly hope that would be the case but it would be disingenuous for me to give you an absolute categorical answer without the work that needs to happen between all the parties."

Ms Currie also said that while the authority was "doing everything" to add additional provision, both in special schools and mainstream schools, there were not enough places.

Aisling McCarthy and her daughter Connla

Aisling McCarthy, one of the organisers of the EA protest, has received a place for her daughter Connla.

"It's such a hard fight but it's not just about Connla... I've linked in with so many parents who are going through the hell that I went through," she said.

""I'm so glad the Education Authority have heard Connla's voice through mine - and that's all I can say before I start crying.

"It's hard enough having a child with additional needs without having to fight for their basic human right."

Ms Currie also warned investment was needed to make sure schools were appropriate for the needs of SEN children.

"We need to invest to make sure our schools estate, whether special school or mainstream, is fit for purpose for the changing profile of the children that we currently have in the system," she said.

"Our schools have been here for many years, many of them. They were built for a different profile of children, we have a changed profile and we do need to do more to build into the system."

Ms Currie also spoke about the pressures the system was facing, with 3,000 children currently going through the process of getting a statement of SEN.

"We are not blind to the fact that our colleagues in health are experiencing very significant difficulties in the early stages and we rely on advices from health as well as ourselves to help children to have the right statement," she said.