school cuts.

Mrs. Rosetta Walwyn, president of the Opportunity Workshop PTA in Devonshire, said 29 mentally handicapped youths and adults will be hurt when cuts force the day training centre to close its doors for the month of July.

In most cases, both parents work, and "one of the greatest problems would be to find someone to care for the young people,'' Mrs. Walwyn said yesterday.

"It's not easy finding people in the community to care for people with special needs.'' And there is another concern, she said. "Because they have learning difficulties anyway, they are going to lose the skills that they have gained throughout the year,'' she said. "It's going to take them much longer to pick up where they left off.'' Handicapped students who attend the workshop learn to pack groceries and tend gardens, among other skills, she said. Their average age is about 25, but most have the mental abilities of five- or six-year-olds, she said.

Education Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons yesterday repeated his statement on Wednesday that he is concerned about cuts to summer school programmes, particularly as they affect the handicapped.

"That was the area I said would probably be the first to be reinstated,'' he told The Royal Gazette .

But he was not able to say summer programmes would definitely be restored. The cuts are to be fine-tuned over the next two months, he said.

Mrs. Geraldine Lambert, principal of Orange Valley School in Devonshire, said she understands the summer programme at that school for students with special needs would also be affected. But she declined further comment.

Mrs. Karen Simons-Williams, acting principal of Friendship Vale School in Devonshire, said about half of the dozen physically challenged children there normally attend summer school in July.

Mrs. Shalimar Williams, a member of the Friendship Vale PTA, said to cut such a programme without first consulting affected parents was "absolutely crazy''.

Shadow Education Minister Ms Jennifer Smith said the cuts were especially drastic during a recession, when parents are less able to pay to enroll handicapped children in private programmes.

"The cuts will affect the people who are least able to deal with them,'' she said.