Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said today that students with intellectual impairments and other conditions were not being offered the support services they needed by school psychological services due to unnecessary administrative issues.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Bartolo noted a drawn up by education consultant Josanne Ghirxi, which found that professionals working at the Access Disability Support Committee and the Examination Assessment Unit had to process as many as 600 applications for support services between September and January. Each application took 10 hours to process which meant that support services came to a grinding halt during the application period.

The report suggested that the process, which runs parallel to another, conducted by the students’ secondary schools, was unnecessary and should be removed outright.

Mr Bartolo said that of the 5,636 adolescents currently unemployed and out of educational institutions, 534 were disabled.

“Many parents lose hope for their children. This is a tragedy and has to change,” he said.

The report also recommended the revision of examination materials such as the colour of papers and fonts.

The minister said he hoped a new policy would be drafted on the matter by the end of the scholastic year.