Cllr Keith Martin says Minister Batt O'Keeffe may be in breach of the Government's constitutional obligations if he removes Special Needs Assistants from St Anthony's and St Brid's schools for children with special needs.
Cllr Martin has written to the Minister pointing out the Dept. of Education's requirements under the Constitution to provide free primary education to all children.
According to the Labour Councillor the Constitution insists that the state must provide education and the facilities necessary for education. Cllr Martin says this includes the education of children with special needs until they reach the age of 18.
Cllr Martin says "Article 42:2 of the Constitution states clearly that 'the State shall provide for free primary education and shall endeavour to supplement and give reasonable aid to private and corporate educational initiative, and, when the public good requires it, provide other educational facilities or institutions with due regard,'."
According to Cllr Martin "This can only be interpreted as obliging the state to make available 'reasonable' facilities and help which is required to educate the children of St Anthony's and St Brid's. Special Needs Assistants are a 'reasonable aid' to the children's education and as such the Minister is constitutionally obliged not to remove them from the schools.
"I have written to the Minister to remind him of his Government's constitutional obligations to provide for these children, to remind him of his commitment to protect the most vulnerable in society and to warn him that he leaves his office open to action in the Supreme Court if he withdraws these vital Special Needs Assistants from our schools.
"We cannot and will not turn our backs on these vulnerable children and we must ready ourselves to fight these cuts all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary."
Cllr Keith Martin086 0691182
No comments:
Post a Comment