Boy 'misses' five years of school

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7778104.stm

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A 16-year-old boy in County Antrim has never been to secondary school, the BBC has learned.

David Nesbitt, from Crumlin, has been absent from school for five years.

His parents said the education system failed their son because he has severe dyslexia.

The North Eastern Education and Library Board wanted him to attend a local high school, Parkhall College but his parents said that it does not meet his special needs.

His mother, Karen Nesbitt, said his problems began in primary school.

"David was a very outgoing young boy, and really loved going to school, and making friends until the problem with dyslexia started to show," she said.

"All David needs is help, which he is entitled to, and should be placed in the suitable class for him and given the help, not just being placed for the sake of being placed in a school."David Nesbitt has not been in school since he was 11

In a letter to the NEELB in 2005, the then headmaster at Parkhall College, said he was "extremely concerned" at all of the circumstances and "fearful for David's safety" should the child be forced to go to the school.

He wrote that he believed an "urgent review" was needed and that placement in his school was "very clearly not the solution".

The NEELB said the placement of children with special needs is a decision for them, although parents and schools are consulted.

It added it would wish to make it very clear that the Nesbitts were given a "choice of appropriate post primary schools" to consider when their son was in P7.

However, the Board said "they chose not to accept any of these options" at that time or in the "five years since their son left his primary school".

The Board said it had sought in the past and "continued to seek the parents support in finding a resolution" that would see their son receive his "rightful entitlement to an education".

David has been left in an educational limbo.

The Nesbitt's had originally wanted their son to go to two Belfast schools which catered for pupils with dyslexia, but they said they could not meet David's special needs, and special needs schools said he was "too smart" for them.

"Very worrying," Karen said.

Karen Nesbitt said her son was entitled to help

"You know because we know David's future is going to suffer because of it.

"But we did find out about a dyslexia society - he goes there once a week, and within a year, David left primary school with a reading age of seven and within a year they brought him up to a reading age of 12 and he has progressed, which he enjoys, and they provide him with a lot of work which we carry out at home."

Karen disagreed that she had not cooperated with the NEELB.

"Definitely not - everything they have done, we know is wrong," she said.

David's grandfather John Milligan said: "I think he is a real credit to his parents I mean he tries hard and he will try anything - but he will not as he told me under any circumstances, 'I will not have anything to do with the NEELB or its employees because of what they have done to me, when I was too young to know any better'."

The Nesbitts have contacted a number of political parties to see if they could help.

Ulster Unionist councillor Michael Copeland said: "I find it startling that in 2008, in what's considered a developed society, a child can go from the age of 11 to 16 with out receiving any form of education."

David is now aiming to do his GCSEs next year.

The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, Patricia Lewsley said "every child in Northern Ireland has a right to education".

"It's a commitment that government has signed up to and one which parents and education bodies must work together to make sure that every child's individual needs are met", she said.

"Only by doing this can children have the opportunity to achieve their full potential."