Proposed regional boards could draw off resources from the schools

ALTHOUGH the National Parents Council Post Primary has also welcomed the Bill, the organisation's views are quite dissimilar to those of their primary counterparts. Nick Killian, public relations officer for the NCP-PP, says that they are not in favour of the education boards on the basis they will draw scarce resources from the schools. "And we're not convinced of their value in relation to the provision of services. We would be at odds with our primary colleagues here," he adds.

Killian says he is worried about the section dealing with accommodation for children with physical and mental disabilities. The word reasonable" is not strong enough, he says.

NPC PP strongly supports the provision of an appeals mechanism but says that it must be independent of the Department of Education and the education boards. It could be organised on a similar lines to the ombudsman, he explains. "We don't accept the view of the unions that parents would use an appeals procedure for frivolous purposes. It must be used responsibly."

But, the NPC PP is not in favour of students over the age of 16 being allowed to appeal their own cases. "We hold responsibility for these children up to the age of 18. We are still funding them," says Killian. It could also be open to misuse by these students, he adds.

The exclusion of the NCCA seems to be the one issue everyone agrees on. Killian says the NPC-PP would like to see it established as a statutory body with the independence to operate the examinations system. He notes that the provision of adequate school transport is not included in the Bill.

He says that all of the constituent organisations of the NPC PP are united in their desire to have two parents on every board of management. The Minister should not have a power of veto over these boards or over the education boards, he adds. Killian says that his organisation has concerns over the gender issue. There are a lot of mothers involved in education and far fewer fathers so equal representation of mothers and fathers on boards should not be enforced.