‘Soft blocking’ keeps special needs pupils out of schools

Children with special needs are effectively being blocked from entering some schools due to hidden discrimination that has yet to be fully tackled by the Government.

The issue was highlighted yesterday as part of a major conference on the rights of children with special needs to adequate education and supports.

Speaking at the sixth annual National Council for Special Education meeting in Croke Park, NCSE researchers detailed a new study showing how children with special needs were still suffering “soft blocking” from schools which endorsed “exclusionary clauses”.