Plans are in hand to provide children with special needs better school facilities in the west and east ends of the Island, Education and Development Minister Paula Cox has revealed.

She said it was her hope that sections of schools at either ends of the Island be revamped to make them better equipped to cater to youngsters with special physical and mental needs.

Ms Cox said it was dependent upon the upcoming Budget and further consultations, but she hoped to have something in place by the end of this year to appease parents who have complained that the present facilities in mainstream middle schools are inadequate, or too centrally located.

The Education and Development Ministry is working with the Works and Engineering Ministry to look at what needs to be provided and what work is involved.

Ms Cox revealed at the end of last year that some parents and teachers believed the current situation, where all children were placed in general education, did not work for everyone.

In some, less severe cases, Ms Cox said parents had reported that their special needs children had vastly improved in an environment with mainstream pupils.

However, she said she had also spoken to a number of parents who felt their children's needs were very severe and were, therefore, not being properly met in public schools.

She said some had suggested a separate facility be provided where trained and qualified teachers and staff were on hand, not only to help educate their children, but also to care for them.

Ms Cox told The Royal Gazette that she hoped a “hybrid” situation could be developed where parents had a choice to place their children in mainstream education or choose a different option.

She added: “There is no facility per se. I think what we are trying to do now is identify those areas where we need to try to get some action on some of the issues raised in the meeting with parents.

“In particular, I think parents felt that where there may have been a central place, from a middle school perspective, where children had facilities available, for those maybe in the extremes of the Island, they were hoping there could be a move to decentralise.

“That means looking at what remedial or renovation work needs to be done to help outfit the schools in the eastern and western ends so they can better accommodate the needs of special needs children.

“I think that's something that we are liaising very closely with Works and Engineering on because they have a plan. You can't just do all the schools in one fell-swoop and it does require some significant expenditure. So we are trying to get that phased in.”

But Ms Cox said that was only one aspect of the “hybrid” solution, and she was also set to work with the Ministry of Health and Family Services.

She added: “We can have a dual operating system. In terms of hard and fast answers, I'm not able to say categorically what is going to happen at this stage.”

“But what we are seeking to do is try to address some of the issues which are easily in our grasp from the parents point of view in terms of trying to deal with some of the changes that need to be made at different ends of the Island, and that involves looking at what we need to do to get infrastructure in place for dealing with special needs.”

Ms Cox said the issue of staffing the facilities would also have to be looked at.

Last night, Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith urged Government to act soon with its plans for special needs children.

But he said he strongly believed that any changes to the system should not involve any special needs child being totally removed from a mainstream school environment, no matter how severe their disability.

He said including all types of children in the same school helps to break down discrimination, as well as enhancing the education of both special needs and mainstream children.

He added: “Partial inclusion is exclusion. In the United Bermuda Party our vision is clear. We do not believe in special, segregated schools. Segregated schools is a knee-jerk reaction to an admittedly complex problem. Plainly speaking, it is not visionary.

“The better solution is to provide separate classes for children with intense special education needs. If this requires rooms be designated or built on to existing schools, then let's get on with it. I hope the Minister of Education has the support of the Finance Minister and her Cabinet colleagues.”