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Emotional needs of children not met by NEPS

Issued : Monday 8 March, 2010

Schools forced to pay for private assessments

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) does not provide schools with clinical assessments to establish a child's emotional and behavioural needs, so forcing schools in disadvantaged areas to seek private assessments for such children.

As a primary school principal myself, I am all-too-aware of the failings of the system which make it almost inevitable that children will fall thought the net. Currently NEPS only provides psychological assessments for children, which means that many schools are forced to go privately to obtain clinical or behavioural assessments for children whose families would not be in a position to pay for them. These assessments are for those children with obvious emotional or behavioural difficulties that need to be addressed as a matter of priority.

Unfortunately, schools often find themselves jumping through hoops in order for the most basic of diagnosis to be provided for children under their care. This is a time-consuming and costly process which should be automatically available through the NEPS system however this service is already struggling to meet the needs of schools requiring psychological assessments.

While the Mater Child Guidance Clinic does offer some support to schools, one principal has told me that he was advised only to approach this service if the child was suicidal. With these services to schools totally inadequate, how many more cases such as Tracey Fay can Irish society expect over the coming years?