Sinn Féin MLA Karen Mullan has met with the Children’s Law Centre on Special Educational Needs for children in schools.

The Foyle MLA said: “I had an extremely productive meeting today with the Children’s law Centre who are doing really good work in supporting parents, children and schools throughout the SEN process.

“Any parent who has ever had to go through this process will know the stress that it can cause, the Children’s Law Centre are a great advocate for children and parent rights especially in a school setting, I would advise anyone in need of some advice to contact them.

“This comes on the back of the beginning of another school year and the time where many parents often face the stress of a child not adapting and feel their child may need extra assistance.

“With a significant increase in special educational needs cases coming through the offices, our staff have recently attended Special Educational Needs training courses through the Children’s Law Centre.

“This has equipped us to deal with the complexities of the wide range of cases.

“The current system in dealing with Special Educational Needs must be improved, that includes the need for the Education Authority to work positively and more closely with parents and children.”