Autistic kids in Ireland are experiencing unnecessary delays as the department of education has delayed their education funds. Home tutors and the parents of the children have been complaining about this issue, but the government and the Department of Education (DoE) have no answer for this.
Tutors were left with no choice but to contact their local media and news houses to have their voices heard. The DoE has even failed to approve their funding applications and as a result, thousands of children are left without any education provided to them.
The DoE started a home tuition service by the name of Compensatory Educational Service. The funds are for the children, who for some genuine reasons, can’t attend schools like if they are sick or in the case of special needs students. The Teacher’s council has approved home tutors for the autistic children.
In the age group below 3, the children are entitled to get 10 hours per week, crossing that age, they become entitled to 20 hours per week. This is continued till a suitable and decent school is found for them. The parents submit their application to the DoE for tutors and Special Education Needs Organisers (SENO), which help parents as well as the department with various formalities.
DoE failed autistic kids
It takes months to get the funding after the application is approved by the DoE. A student has had no education for the past three weeks since his funding wasn’t approved by the DoE. If the funding is not signed within a few days, the child won’t receive any tuition till the end of November.
The school term for normal students has started almost a month ago, while special needs students are not getting anything. The administration hasn’t been cooperating either. The forms that are to be filled by the parents were issued two weeks later as compared to the last year.
At this moment, there are more than 14000 students that are diagnosed with autism. Previous year reports show that the government hasn’t done a decent job in 2018 either.
