Young Co Down boy has not had a place in school for nearly two years
The mother of a young boy from Co Down has expressed her fears that he is losing out on education after not having a permanent place in school for nearly two years.
Colleen has expressed concern regarding the education of her son Ryan who was meant to start primary seven this year but currently does not have a place in school.
The young boy has not been in full-time education for nearly two years due to his complex needs and has a statement saying that he requires a special school setting as a result of this.
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However, the last time Ryan was able to attend school he was in primary five and only able to go for 10 minutes two times a week.
Speaking to Belfast Live, his mother Colleen said that she feels her son is being let down by the Education Authority and is concerned how his future will be impacted by the education that he has missed over the past couple of years.
She said: "My son has complex needs and as a result of this has had a lot of difficulty with his education and during his P5 year only attended school twice a week at lunchtimes for ten minutes at a time.
"Since then he has had no permanent place in school and we were hoping that this year he would be able to start P7 at somewhere that is suitable for him, but sadly he is still without a place to go to school.
"The EA had told us they were considering finding him a mainstream placement, but because his statement said that he requires a special school setting he would not be able to go to a mainstream one.
"We have been told that there are no special school places at all available for him which means that he is looking at a further wait in order to return to education.
"I am very worried about how far he will have fallen behind in his education and soon he will be meant to move to secondary school despite not having a proper education in years.
"I just feel like my son is being failed and there must be some place available for him somewhere."
A spokesperson for the Education Authority (EA) said: “It would be inappropriate to discuss publicly the circumstances of one specific child, however we would confirm that the Education Authority remains firmly committed to meeting the individual needs of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN).”
“All decisions on school placement allocations reflect the considered advice and input of relevant professionals and are taken in the context of the specific needs of the pupil.”
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