Union tells LSEs not to assist ‘challenging’ pupils without statement of needs

The Union of Professional Educators has filed a trade dispute over delays in the provision of LSEs for students with severe learning difficulties who have not yet been issued with their statements of needs.

The UPE said primary school teachers were facing challenging situations in class with students with severe difficulties who had not bee provided with LSEs.

The UPE said this had placed an additional burden on educators and hindering the learning environment. “Teachers and kindergarten educators (KGEs) are unable to effectively deliver lessons, negatively impacting the entire class,” UPE secretary-general Graham Sansone said.

Sansons said numerous teachers and LSEs had said the introduction of “several challenging students” in kinder and primary classes without their necessary statements of needs, had rendered teachers unable to effectively deliver lessons, and negatively impacting the entire class.

Sansone said LSEs assigned to these classes were also unable to assist teachers, since they are supporting only those students who have been issued statements of needs. “In response to this issue, some schools have resorted to assigning reliever KGEs and shared LSEs from different classes to provide support in such cases,” Sansone said.

The UPE said no action had yet been taken to address the matter despite having alerted the education ministry at the beginning of the scholastic year. “Although top-level officials have been made aware and have assured the union that they are working on a resolution, no progress has been made thus far, causing further frustration,” Sansone said.

The UPE’s trade dispute comes with directives, effective Friday 20 October, to union members who are LSEs not to support non-statemented students. “Their priority lies with their own statemented students. In the event of their students’ absence, they may only be utilised as replacements with statemented students, or to cover 15-minute breaks for 1-to-1 LSE sessions.”

The UPE also directed teachers, and kindergarten teachers and relievers not to accept non-statemented students in the classroom “who present a health risk or disrupt other students due to their behaviour. These students should be referred to the appropriate services for statementing in order to receive adequate assistance through established procedures.”

“It is crucial for the ministry to prioritise the provision of adequate support for students with severe difficulties in order to create an inclusive and effective learning environment for all,” Sansone said.