§ Lord Swinfenasked Her Majesty's Government:
What provision is made for the Special Education Needs of children accompanying service personnel serving outside the United Kingdom. [HL2135]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Gilbert)Service Children's Education, SCE, an MoD agency, is responsible for the provision of education services overseas for the children of Service personnel serving outside the United Kingdom. SCE schools follow the DfEE Code of Practice on the identification and assessment of Special Educational Needs, SEN, and children with such needs are supported in mainstream classes or in Special Education Units in Germany or Cyprus. Although provision can be made for the majority of children, SCE does not maintain any special schools and cannot therefore match the full range of SEN provision available in the UK. Where necessary, the Services will arrange postings to avoid parents whose child has special needs being sent to an area where those needs cannot be met.