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Dept being far too rigid on home tuition qualifications

Issued : Friday 3 July, 2009

The shift in policy by the Dept of Education which makes it much harder for families to appoint the most appropriate person to home school an autistic child, has come about with little or no consultation with parents.

Up until recently, the person appointed by a family as a home-school teacher could be qualified, either by virtue of the fact that they held a recognised teaching qualification, or held a other specific qualifications as was agreed by the department of education in 2007.

Now the person must be a qualified teacher, and only in instances where the family find it impossible to find a qualified teacher, can they appoint somebody with one of the alternative qualifications.

This is approach is far too rigid, and will place far too onerous a burden on these families who will find it very difficult to source a suitably qualified person, and the restrictions should be relaxed. While I understand that a teaching qualification brings with it, many desirable attributes in this regard, a B.Ed alone does not equip a person to tutor in an area where an appropriate skills set plus experience of working in area, is what is important.

This shift in position will mean that people who have been working with autistic children, in some instances for a number of years, and who during that period have accumulated priceless experience along relevant academic qualifications, will now face an uncertain future. This is a very shoddy way to treat a group of people who have provided an invaluable service to thousands of families across the country.

Parents are facing a major crisis come September regarding home tuition for their children. At the very least, this change in approach should be deferred until such time as the Minister for Education has done parents the courtesy of consulting with them.

The present criteria, brought in by the Department two years ago, while not perfect are working and should be allowed continue, at least until an agreed way forward can be put in place.