The Ministry of Education implemented a new policy on Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) at the beginning of this school year, applying to both public and private schools in the Cayman Islands.
The new SEND ‘Code of Practice’ updates the old policy that had been in effect since 2011.
In Cayman Islands Parliament last week, Progressives Shadow Minister of Education Barbara Conolly posed the Opposition question: “Can the Honourable Minister state whether she intends to update the Cayman Islands Special Educational Needs Code of Practice to ensure that it meets with current best practice?”
Minister of Education Juliana O’Connor-Connolly said the current Code of Practice “reflects the best practices and was recently revised and implemented in August last year in all of our schools that is public and private school, compulsory and pre-compulsory”.
In a supplemental question, Conolly asked if parents and teachers were consulted as part of the review process of the SEND policy.
O’Connor-Connolly said both public and private school parents and teachers were consulted.
She said the new Code of Practice provides a clear and constent approach to meeting additional learning support needs and focusses on identifying those needs and taking action as early as possible.