A West Cork Senator says the Department of Education's policy on assistive technology is like taking glasses away from a visually-impaired child
He also called for students with dyslexia to be given extra time in state exams as is the norm in education systems across Europe.
He says in France, dyslexic students can avail of up to 33% extra time, in Italy it's 30% extra, and in the UK it's 25%.
Speaking in the Seanad, Senator Tim Lombard says one West Cork pupil has had her ability to reach her full potential taken from her:
"I have a student at the moment, who left the Primary School in West Cork who had the technology in Primary School, went to secondary school. It's now the month of May and she hasn't got her technology for the first year yet. She actually has gone through a portion of her secondary school education with no technology. It's effectively taking the glasses away from a child who's visually impaired and saying go to the classroom. And because of that, that family and that child is totally disfranchised of her ability to reach her full potential".
