A seven-year-old boy with a physical disability has not been able to attend school for over a month because an application for a learning support assistant was not filed, the National Commission Persons with Disability is claiming.

The commission filed a judicial protest against the headmaster of St Edward’s College and the board of governors calling on them to take the necessary steps to rectify the situation.

The commission said the boy, a Year 3 student who uses a wheelchair, had been going to school with the help of his LSA who was paid by his parents.

By law, the school was meant to provide the LSA.

This LSA used to help the boy make his way around the school that was not accessible to wheelchair users.

A few months ago, the LSA was indisposed and the boy’s parents asked the school to start the process so their son would be assigned another LSA through the Directorate for Educational Services. In the meantime, the boy’s mother went to school to help him get around.

However, the commission pointed out in its protest, despite the parents’ request it resulted that the school had not set the ball rolling to find an LSA. In addition, the commission noted, notwithstanding its various requests, the school never did anything to make the building more accessible to wheelchair users.

About a month ago, health reasons stopped the boy’s mother from going to school and, as a result, her son could no longer attend school either.

The commission noted that educational policies recommended that parents did not act as LSAs. It complained that, because of the school’s shortcomings, the boy was not being given access to the educational services he had a right to in line with the Maltese Constitution, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Equal Opportunities Act.

The commission called on the school to take the necessary measures to rectify the situation or face legal action.

Lawyers Alexia Farrugia Zrinzo and Daniel Calleja signed the judicial protest.