Calls for introduction of safeguards to ensure reduced timetables in schools are not used inappropriately

Safeguards must be put in place around the use of reduced timetables, which are a “daily reality for many vulnerable students” that disproportionately affect the most marginalized, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

Without the consent of their parents, a student can have the number of hours they spend in school limited, the committee was warned, and, when used inappropriately, reduced timetables deny Travellers, disadvantaged students, and children with disabilities of their right to education.