Isle of Man special educational needs survey highlights concerns

Dr Allinson said the results were a "very valid and honest appraisal" of the services

A survey about special educational needs provision in Manx schools has found more than half of the respondents believe pupils' learning and developmental needs are not being met.

About 500 people were surveyed by the Isle of Man government, half of whom were family members or carers.

About 85% said more staffing support would improve the provision and about 82% said increased funding would help.

Education Minister Alex Allinson said the results would help "drive change".

He added that the survey had highlighted "very valid concerns".

Almost 53% of respondents to the survey said the support and interventions offered were only "sometimes" effective at enabling children and young people to make appropriate progress, while only 21% of participants thought that schools were successful in identifying children's needs as early as possible.

About 68% said waiting times for assessments and a lack of resources were partly to blame for the delay, with nearly 56% stating that the current processes and procedures for special educational needs in schools were difficult to understand.

Dr Allinson said the results were a "very valid and honest appraisal" of the services and the feedback would "now determine how we move forward".

The survey was launched in late September as part of moves to create an Additional Educational Needs code of practice to give guidance to educators on aspects of upholding the provisions in the proposed new Education Bill.

Although that legislation has since been withdrawn, work is continuing on the code of practice with a view to making changes to the existing laws.