The Commissioner for Education within the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman has received several communications, in the last days, from parents of LSE supported children in state schools will not be sitting for MATSEC examinations.

These parents expressed concern for their year-11 children who have been told to remain at home between 28th April and 29th June. The latter had prepared a special course for these children for that period, however, very few parents have applied for their children to attend. It is suggested that the parents have not been properly consulted with by the Education Authorities.

This concern has also been expressed by parents of years seven to ten Core Curriculum Programme (CCP) students over the possibility of their children also being asked to remain at home at some stage in the future. It appears that the situation has become worse by directives issued by the Union of Professional Educators (UPE) restricting the temporary re-assignment/ redeployment of union members from year-11 children taking MATSEC exams to support children in lower years who are without an LSE.