A former occupational therapist in the public school system is calling for a new teacher owned private school for special needs students.

And she says it's time to look at privatising the education system.

Delcina Bean-Burrows, who has also chaired the Road Safety Council, told The Royal Gazette that too many parents are not happy with the number of services on offer for special needs children.

"Education is one of the fastest growing consumer driven industries right now," she said. "Some government departments should be privatised and a good place to start is education."

Ms Burrows is also an advocate for Employee Ownership Schemes in the private sector. Employees who provide "sterling service" to a company for a period of time should be given a stake in the business, she says. Ms Burrows contends that the schemes provide mutual benefit to the employees and the company as a whole.

Her proposal for a private special needs school on the Island embraces the idea of employee ownership.

"At the moment there seems to be a real need for a private special school to meet the needs of youngsters between the ages of 3 - 14 years old. An employee owned special school would provide excellent learning opportunities for families as well as educators."

Ms Burrows reckons the Island could handle one such school - with a capacity for 10 to 15 students - to start.

Asked why she doesn't just get on with it herself, she said : "I certainly would be interested in talking to anyone interested in the idea. It does need to be looked at."

Ms Burrows works is an occupational health and injury prevention consultant.