Commissioner calls for end to classroom assistants' strike

The North's Children's Commissioner today called on all sides involved in the classroom assistants' strike to put children first and quickly resolve the dispute.

Patricia Lewsley said many of the children affected were among the most vulnerable in society and she had been inundated with calls from distraught parents.

The routine necessary for the education of many children in special schools had been "torn asunder" by the dispute, she said.

Her call came as it was claimed bus drivers taking children with severe learning disabilities to special schools in south Belfast refused to cross picket lines.

As the indefinite strike by some 3,000 members of the public service union the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) continued through its fourth day, Ms Lewsley said the dispute and industrial action was extremely complex, but the focus must be on the children.

She said: "To make sure the voices of the children and young people are heard I have raised my concern with the Minister for Education Caitriona Ruane, who has the responsibility for the delivery of the service. I am now making a public call for an early resolution."

The Commissioner added: "Distraught parents have called my office over the past week, and I have total sympathy for them and their children. All stakeholders - parents, classroom assistants, trade unions, employers and the Department of Education - need to refocus their efforts to avoid further cost to the children's education.

"Many of the children affected by this dispute depend on a routine that supports their education and learning, a routine that has been torn asunder by this dispute."

As all sides considered their next action, she urged them to put the children first and reach a speedy resolution.

Meanwhile a leading teachers' union told its members to maintain solidarity with the classroom assistants.

The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) said it had become aware some principals were requesting teachers telephone parents whose children had not been attending school because of the classroom assistants' strike, with a view to asking them to return pupils to school on Monday.

Mary Cahillane, chair of the union's northern committee, said: "INTO has instructed its members not to get involved in this practice and asks them to stand in solidarity with their colleagues in NIPSA."

She added: "INTO wishes a speedy end to this dispute and calls on the Education Minister Caitriona Ruane and the education and Library Boards to give classroom assistants fair pay and fair conditions of service."

Meanwhile NIPSA general secretary John Corey insisted none of his union pickets had been involved in turning buses of children away from special schools in south Belfast.

Parents of pupils who attend Glenveagh Special School had apparently been told it was reopening today but when the buses carrying the pupils arrived the drivers did not cross the picket lines.

Mr Corey said: "There are a number of special schools on the same site and there are multi-entrances to it. Every entrance that has been opened has had a picket placed on it.

"But I want to be absolutely clear NIPSA pickets would never prevent parents and children going into school. For some reason the buses taking the children to school were formed into a convoy area, the children were kept on the buses and then someone made a decision to take the children away again."