Intervention by judge led to solution for 2 pupils

The President of the High Court has directed that the education minister allocate four hours and 15 minutes of additional resource hours weekly to schools where two children with Down syndrome are attending.

The intervention by Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns has led to a “pragmatic” temporary solution of a case where it is alleged an “inflexible” policy of the minister is depriving the two children of additional resource hours they need to remain in mainstream education.

Lawyers for the minister stressed the solution — where the school principals involved have the final say on which pupil is in most need of such hours — is “pragmatic”, “humane”, temporary, confined to this case, and not a precedent.