Some parents have asked that their children be allowed to go to a special school next week that has been closed due to strikes.
The parents said they are willing to take their children to Glenveagh School in south Belfast if the need arises.
Among Unite members in Northern Ireland, the school’s classroom assistants are on strike over a pay dispute.
As a result, the students have not been taught at school since before Easter.
The south Belfast school educates many pupils with special educational needs and is the only one of 39 special schools that pupils cannot attend during the strike.
However, the Education Authority (EA) said students at another special school – Rossmar in Limavady – are to take turns taking part during the strike action.
Industrial action by Unite members is due to continue in most councils, the Housing Executive and the EA through Monday 9th May.
The union also staged a week-long industrial action in March.
A number of parents have now written to the Glenveagh Headmaster and Board of Governors to urge them to allow children to go to school next week – even on a part-time or rotation basis.
BBC News NI has seen a number of letters from parents.
They point out that, contrary to Article 16 of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Regulations (2005), their children are denied access to education.
It states that disabled students should not be “significantly disadvantaged” compared to non-disabled students.
- Pupils at a special school stay at home during the strike
The parents also wrote that distance learning was not suitable for their children and that they missed interacting with other students and teachers.
The parents are asking the school to also accept the children on a “rotating” or part-time basis next week.
“It would be a great benefit for the children and a better use of time than watching videos,” the letters read.
Some have offered to take their children to school so they can receive face-to-face instruction.
Anne Gribbin, whose 16-year-old daughter Aoife has Angelman Syndrome, is among the parents who have offered to help the school’s staff.
She told BBC News NI the situation had left her child “very confused”.
“It’s not just school for Aoife, it’s her whole social life,” Ms Gribbin said.
“It’s her friends, it’s her routine, all of her therapy – her speech therapy, physical therapy and her music therapy – that she absolutely loves.
“It’s their legal right to go to school … if my son’s school were to close, I would do the same.”
Ms Gribbin said she was “appalled” if the Unite union decides to push ahead with the school closure until June after seeing how the lockdown has affected Aoife.
“We watched her slowly go back after the lockdown in the six or seven months that she wasn’t in school and she refused, she went back,” she said.
“I can’t allow that to happen again and I’m sure other parents at school feel the same way.”
She has also accused Unite of “exploiting” the students for their own ends.
“I find it despicable that they are doing this to these children,” Ms Gribbin said.
“I think they are holding the EA for ransom by using children with special needs – which is unfortunate.
“If Aoife stays out of school until June, that’s unthinkable for her. We’ll make it, we’ll make it happen, but I can’t explain to her what’s happening.”
Another parent, Clare McLean, spoke to BBC Newsline on Tuesday about how the school closure has affected her 12-year-old daughter Katie.
Katie has the same condition as Aoife.
“Katie is completely non-verbal – she has very poor mobility, she has seizures, she sleeps poorly and she really needs school,” Ms McLean said.
“She opened her school bag the other day and brought me her school jumper and that’s her way of saying why am I not in school?
“We can’t explain to her what’s going on, we can’t explain to her why she’s not there.”
On Friday, EA’s deputy HR director Robbie McGreevy said the agency had again urged Unite to exempt staff supporting special schools from strike action after previous requests were denied.
“While EA fully respects employees’ rights to industrial action, we also recognize the significant impact that any reduction or change in learning patterns can have on children and young people, particularly those with special educational needs,” he said.
“We are working very hard to implement a number of contingency measures to minimize disruption as much as possible during this time.”
Mr McGreevy also said the EA could not renegotiate a local government agreement for 2021/22, which has been agreed with other unions across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
However, Unite said employers like EA could “develop local formulas that would allow for a bid above the current 1.75%”.
The union said employers could, for example, make local agreements on things like holiday pay, overtime pay and shift work.
“Movements on any combination of these issues could open the door to resolving this dispute,” the union said.
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