March 22, 2017 at 3:59 pm
Directive on issues with LSA one-to-one cases in State Schools
The MUT wrote to the Director for Education Resources (ER) within the Directorate for Educational Services (DES) after it was contacted by a number of schools in which due to sickness or other reasons there is a shortage of LSAs. The Union stated that it appears that personnel from the ER department as well as College Principals are instructing Heads to keep one-to-one cases at school if there is no LSA to assist them. The Union noted that the practice of removing an LSA from shared cases to replace another taking care of a one-to-one case is unethical and largely discriminatory against students statemented as needing shared support. Moreover, the recommendation that one-to-one cases should be kept at school if there is no LSA to assist them is potentially dangerous for the students themselves as well as to their peers and educators.
In this light, the MUT stated that if the ER is insisting on this direction, the Union will only agree with it if the Director or any one of the officials within the Department sends a written and signed statement whereby he or she is assuming the legal responsibility of any consequence of this decision. On the contrary, since the direction is to date being given to schools without anyone taking legal responsibility, the MUT considers this decision as unacceptable. The Union is therefore directing all its members to ignore it.
