Disability commission takes MUT directives on LSEs to court
Children are being left without their LSEs and some have to stay home
A teachers' union directive instructing Learning Support Educators (LSEs) of children with disabilities not to attend to children in school during exams - because they are needed for invigilation - is in breach of the children’s human rights, according to the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability.
The Commission put this argument forward in court as it asked for the suspension of the directives that came into force during exams that span between June 9 and 26.
The CRPD's request was filed in court last week, before the exams started, but no decision has yet been taken.
On Wednesday last week, the CRPD, together with parents of a child with a disability - Rebecca Bonello and Neil Crossey - filed a request for a warrant of prohibitory injunction to be issued to stop the MUT’s directives. The request was filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court, presided over by Mr Justice Henri Mizzi.
The directives, issued on June 3, request all school management in middle and secondary schools to refrain from carrying out any changes of timetabling of exams. “The examination period in middle and secondary schools shall continue to be dedicated exclusively for exams. HODs, Teachers and LSEs are directed to adhere with the original examinations schedule," they say.
This essentially means that LSEs who are usually assigned to children with disabilities who choose not to take exams are removed from their post, resulting in the child not being able to attend school in most cases.
In the court application, the CRPD and the parents argue that this is discriminatory as it goes against a range of fundamental human rights of the children, including their right to an education. They also argue that the directives were unnecessary as the director general of the department that handles the curriculum and lifelong learning has declared that: “External invigilators will be deployed, where needed, to cover for educators who continue to deliver CCP [core curriculum programme] lessons.”
The application was signed by lawyers Rachel Tua and Bernard Busuttil.