Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 9 February 2022.
Diolch, Weinidog. I wrote to the education Minister last year expressing concerns about the lack of tangible action to address the disruption to the education of disabled and additional learning needs pupils during the pandemic. Mark Edwards is one of many constituents who have contacted me on this issue. He feels that his son, an additional learning needs pupil at Ysgol Maes y Coed, Bryncoch, is being treated unequally, though through no fault of the school itself, as he is continuing to miss out on crucial and prolonged periods of his education. No provision of non-intrusive COVID tests forces many pupils, like Mark's son, into a mandatory isolation period every time they exhibit a potential symptom. The lack of adequate specialist teaching reserves to mitigate the impact of infection on staffing are just some examples of the need for the Government to act. Mark's son's class has been closed for weeks at a time on occasion over the last months, sometimes with less than a day's notice. Mark told me, 'It is as if children like my son and their education have less value.' How will the Minister uphold the rights of all children to an equal education during this time and what will the Minister do to ensure that children with disabilities and additional learning needs are not discriminated against in this way?