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'My daughter has special needs too': How should we educate gifted children in Ireland?

In Alberta, Canada, all gifted children are entitled to personalised learning plans, with the option of a specialised programme too.

Ireland is grappling with a series of challenges that are impacting our citizens’ quality of life. TheJournal.ie is examining solutions to these issues which have worked or are currently being trialled in other states and asking: Would It Work Here?

CIARA (NOT HER real name) took a Mensa IQ test on her 11th birthday and received a confirmed result of 162 IQ.

This places her among the top <1% of people in the country. But, her father says that the lack of special attention given to Ciara in school means that she is not fulfilling her potential.

He told TheJournal.ie: “I would argue that my daughter has special needs in just the same way as a child who may be struggling with their education.

She is often bored with school which turns her off education. This parallels with the experiences of children who are put off education because they struggle in class.

Ireland has no real national programme for keeping young, gifted children occupied, engaged and stimulated in school.

If gifted children are not stimulated in school, they may not always be high achievers and lag behind others.

Individual schools must allocate resources from their existing budgets if they are to provide for extra teaching for children with high and above-average IQ.

In Ireland, there are about 40,000 children classed as “exceptionally gifted”, or among the top 5% of the most intelligent young people.

The closest thing we have to a nationwide programme comes from Dublin City University, which runs the Centre for Talented Youth Ireland (CTYI).

From its Glasnevin campus and centres around the country, the CTYI says it aims to “allow talented students to reach their potential both academically and socially by providing relevant and interesting challenges based on ability and interest rather than age”.

The CTYI offers Saturday classes during term time for younger children, and a three-week residential course for teenagers during the summer.

However, those spearheading the initiative believe that changes need to be made in individual schools to allow gifted children to excel.

shutterstock_118599097 Shutterstock / Pressmaster Shutterstock / Pressmaster / Pressmaster

The director of the CTYI, Dr Colm O’Reilly, agrees that the Irish education system has to change to ensure that these children reach their maximum potential, rather than a system which is geared towards ensuring everyone reaches a basic minimum.

He said: “If we were talking about ensuring that children with learning difficulties were getting the best education they possibly could – this wouldn’t even be questioned.

But because we’re talking about bright kids it seems to be not as accepted and people seem more reluctant to push them ahead.

Canadian example

The Canadian state of Alberta has a population of around four million people. Its most populous city – Calgary – has a population just tipping over one million.

Under Code 80 of Alberta’s Special Education Code, all children deemed “gifted” are entitled to an IPP – or individualised programme plan.

Special learning needs and outcomes – including content, process, products, peer environment and assessment – are designated and monitored through this IPP.

Each one is very detailed, with a checklist to ensure that elements of the child’s learning is catered for.

ipp checklist The checklist ensures that all areas that need attention are identified and acted on. Alberta Board of Education Alberta Board of Education

If a school is not able to facilitate these elements, then an alternative is available to allow more gifted children to learn among their peers.

Four schools in Calgary offer the GATE – Gifted and Talented Education – programme in addition to regular classes.

To be deemed eligible, children are designated as intellectually gifted when they have an IQ over 130 as determined by a registered psychologist who administers an individual standardised assessment.

Then, it must be determined that adjustments in their day-to-day school life are required to address their needs.

Offered for young people from the fourth grade (typically around nine to 10-year-olds) to 12th grade (around 17-18 years of age), each student is enrolled in a specialised class with peers of similar intellectual ability.

Administered by the Calgary Board of Education, they say that the GATE programme is the one “most often associated” with meeting the needs of gifted learners.

Students are assigned to one of the participating schools depending on the area they live in and a parent association supports and fundraises for the initiative to run and maintain high standards.

One English teacher who was brought in to teach Shakespeare to GATE students aged nine was astonished at the reaction from the whole class.

She told the Calgary Herald: ”Intellectually, they were at university level, but they were trapped in these little kid bodies… They just got it. For me, as a teacher, it was a dream come true.”

The parents’ association also helps to fund professional development for teachers on the programme, so that they can develop more expertise in providing education for gifted children.

According to the body, the programme changes and adapts as children get older. They say:

In the elementary (primary school) setting, classroom work focuses on enrichment of the curriculum and development of more higher order and complex thinking skills.
In the junior high (early secondary school) programme, students are offered the option to pursue acceleration of subjects in addition to enrichment. For example, a student may choose to accelerate through Maths and Science to complete grade 10 programming before the end of their grade nine-year.
In high school (leaving cert equivalent), students may choose GATE programming for all of their core subjects or they may choose to divide their classes between pre-advanced placement courses and/or international baccalaureate programming.

Would it work here?

Ciara’s father filled us in on what her school – based in Meath – does to try to offer an extended learning programme for her and another classmate.

He said: “They take the children once every two weeks for an hour and use a variety of non-curriculum tools and aids to try to stimulate further and extended learning. It is quite ad-hoc and dependent on availability of another teacher at the time to progress the learning.”

In the state of Alberta, however, children are entitled to their own individualised plan designed to help them excel, while a further programme can be enrolled in to ensure they learn an enhanced curriculum among similarly-abled peers.

The director of the Centre for Talented Youth Ireland, Dr Colm O’Reilly, told TheJournal.ie that the idea of an individualised plan for each gifted students would certainly be beneficial but isn’t sure that the funding is present for such a programme in Ireland.

On the subject of something similar to the GATE programme in designated public schools around Dublin, for example, as it has a similar population to that of Calgary in Canada, O’Reilly said that it’s very useful “putting bright kids together with bright kids” as they “work well together”.

He said: “Bright kids are not just uniform in that they all do well in school. Gifted children may not always be high achievers in a normal classroom. They often don’t have that motivation when they’re not being pushed or challenged.

Some of these children can be hard to teach in a school context. You can have a lot of success in helping kids reach their potential when you try something a bit different.

As for actually bringing it in here, O’Reilly is sceptical. A lack of funding, and a lack of enthusiasm to provide funding, in this area of education by the Department of Education would be one of the major issues, according to O’Reilly.

“It’s funding contingent. It would be an improvement on what is being done in our schools, but it would be a difficult thing to achieve.

It’s certainly implementable, but the question has to be asked if this form of education is a higher priority for the department than other issues and I’m not sure that’s the case.

At the time of writing, the Department of Education has not responded to requests from TheJournal.ie for comment.

Read: Three challenges of being an exceptionally gifted child – cyberbullying, underachieving and money

Read: “We all have a particular talent – but it’s one with a bad reputation”

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43 Comments
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    Mute Donal Proctor
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    Mar 5th 2017, 8:46 AM

    All people should have a right to a teaching system which can match, meet, accelerate a their own individual earning to suit there abilities and realise their full potential weather that person is be disadvantaged, disabled, average, above average, very smart or gifted from child to adult.

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    Mute Donal Proctor
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    Mar 5th 2017, 8:48 AM

    Obviously im a bit average with my spelling and button bashing this morning. Apologies

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    Mute Melissa O'Callaghan
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:02 AM

    Education should be to develop every child’s full potential. There shouldn’t be IQ labelling as this puts pressure on the child. Only an acknowledgement by the school that the child can develop ideas further and the child encouraged to progress. Boredom is the cause of many intelligent children becoming disruptive and potentially not achieving even average results.

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    Mute Donal Proctor
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:11 AM

    Agreed. Equally some children have learning disabilities such as ASD which is not related to IQ. Our schooling system seldom meets their particular needs throughout their learning life which inhibits their full potential.

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    Mute Graham
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:51 AM

    Sorry to be pedantic but ASD is not a learning disability

    45
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    Mute Donal Proctor
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:57 AM

    Graham you have no idea what your talking about. Sorry to be pedantic but you dont.

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    Mute Donal Proctor
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    Mar 5th 2017, 10:03 AM

    ASD covers a range of disorders mostly social and communicative but not limited to hyperactivity, repetitive behaviour and sensory issues which inhibits a persons ability to interact, learn and focus on different subject matter. A person with Asbergers which is a form of ASD may have a completely different set of needs then a person with ASD who does not have Asbergers.

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    Mute Suzie Sunshine
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    Mar 5th 2017, 10:28 AM

    Sorry but while ASD may effect learning .. it’s not a learning disability. .

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    Mute Donal Proctor
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    Mar 5th 2017, 10:33 AM

    Apologises Suzie and Graham. Technically your correct

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    Mute Graham
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    Mar 5th 2017, 12:57 PM

    Fair play for apology, not sure why anyone would red thumb that

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    Mute Sandra Creevey
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    Mar 5th 2017, 3:56 PM

    Aspergers

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    Mute Anonymous Man
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    Mar 5th 2017, 8:19 AM

    Unfortunately the schooling system is like animals queued for the abattoir.

    Line them up and send the kids in one direction without any guidance.

    I took me to get to my twenties to realise I had the ability to progress and eventually get a masters but not with the help of the pre-adult schooling system.

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    Mute Gary Smith
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    Mar 5th 2017, 8:33 AM

    So nothing you learned in 14 years was of any use to you in getting this masters???

    59
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    Mute Anonymous Man
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:01 AM

    I suppose, reading, writing & spelling helped a bit.

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    Mute lavbeer
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:55 AM

    Was the issue there that you only realised your potential after a time? The educational system enabled you.

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    Mute Iwonka Brozynska
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:38 AM

    Totally agree with the article and I feel the father’s pain; however, the mistake is that the article was published – it should have never been! You should never ever mention/ insinuate/ speak up about your gifted kid to anyone – it draws rolled eyes , raised eyebrows, red thumbs and exclusion; thus, one should keep it to oneself and try to push the child on their own to develop their potential – alone and in silence…(in space or on earth no one can hear you scream)…

    54
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    Mute Tom Burke
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:58 AM

    The fathers pain?
    That father needs to chill out.
    If his child is ‘gifted’ they will do fine.

    And please don’t use the phrase ‘special needs’ in this context.

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    Mute monkeysocks
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    Mar 5th 2017, 10:00 AM

    Huh?

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    Mute epo eire
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:40 AM

    The special needs assistance programme (SNA’s) initially covered gifted childen but as too many children qualified, including children with alternative needs, they removed it from the application and list of requirements. The gifted programme out of DCU is great in the fact that it exists but it is expensive especially if you have multiple children who are gifted or multiple children in general who have different activities on a saturday. They do not have an affordable remote programme or affordable internal classroom classroom programes. Please correct me with details below if i am wrong.

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    Mute Gary Smith
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:50 AM

    Why would a gifted child require an SNA ???? I’m baffled by this

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    Mute Donal Proctor
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:56 AM

    First ive heard of it too. Want to be some SNA to help a Genius child. I think the point is that the educational system is very limited to help children accross a variety of individual needs

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    Mute Gary Smith
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    Mar 5th 2017, 10:01 AM

    That’s fine…and people can red thumb all they like…but an SNA would be as much use to a gifted child as a chocolate tea pot…if the child has care needs or is a danger to themselves or others then absolutely they should get access to one…but otherwise no

    23
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    Mute Bríd Uí Mhaoluala
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    Mar 5th 2017, 12:45 PM

    SNA provision never existed for exceptionally able children . The DES has never made any resources of any kind available in this area.
    The ” new ” special ed. model due in September this year will almost certainly ensure that children of high ability will get nothing either.

    At present we make some learning support time available to children with high ability but come September who knows what will happen as the staffing schedules haven’t been released yet.

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    Mute Wurps
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    Mar 5th 2017, 8:46 AM

    Ireland contains a whole lot of begrudgers who hate anyone who has talent,ability or resources beyond their own.

    Move.

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    Mute Linda Oreilly
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    Mar 5th 2017, 10:27 AM

    Having worked as a SNA for many years its difficult enough for challenged kids with autism and adhd etc to get hours of help with a SNA….its a minefield…..alot of kids are left out of the process and never fulfil their potential.

    these gifted kids will always at least have a good leaving cert and go to college even if they are not reaching their full potential….its a difficult balance to get. I know of a few kids who attend DCU and the scheme does seem to work exceedingly well.

    More funding is the answer but this is Ireland.

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    Mute Carol Oates
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    Mar 5th 2017, 11:51 AM

    Sorry, lost me at if we were talking about kids with learning difficulties, this wouldn’t be a question. Clearly someone who is clueless about the challenges of getting a decent education for someone with learning difficulties.

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    Mute Jake Gundersonn
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    Mar 5th 2017, 8:44 AM

    Judging from the articles posted by the journalists here she dwarves their IQ to shame. Intelligent children don’t really need a speciality article dedicated to them, they find their way by themselves . Average IQ is 110? I guess it would be too offensive to suggest given the narrative and all that.

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    Mute sue
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:34 AM

    Your comment highlights the issue perfectly. It’s the whole idea of teaching all kids the same regardless of ability and only acknowledging those that struggle (as you do). This can eventually even leave high achievers behind academically as they are too bored to bother with school. I’m absolutely not blaming schools and teachers as they can only work with what they have.

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    Mute Mary Beirne
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    Mar 5th 2017, 7:12 PM

    My son when tested has an IQ of 135 but is dyslexic with a reading age far below normal. What about these children? . They are completely frustrated by the school system

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    Mute Bríd Uí Mhaoluala
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    Mar 5th 2017, 8:37 PM

    @Mary , your child is in all likelihood exceptionally able and deserves help for his needs, both dyslexia and EA.

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    Mute Caitriona Smith
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:10 AM

    How are you supposed to know what kids are ‘gifted’ and should receive this extra help, mandatory IQ testing?

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    Mute Iwonka Brozynska
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    Mar 5th 2017, 9:17 AM

    When your child starts beating you at chess at the age of 6 – this is then when you know it…

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    Mute EvieXVI
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    Mar 5th 2017, 10:55 AM

    @Caitriona Smith: Parents might believe their child is gifted but they’re probably biased. Teachers can usually tell quickly. And, like it or not, children are assessed regularly in school, the scores clearly indicate their IQ

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    Mute Bríd Uí Mhaoluala
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    Mar 5th 2017, 12:48 PM

    Actually this is incorrect . The tests such as Druncondra or Micra-t do not give an IQ score . Children with exceptional ability don’t always get Sten 10 scores either .

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    Mute EvieXVI
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    Mar 5th 2017, 12:53 PM

    @Brid Ui Mhaoluala: But the tests do correlate to IQ, so children with high- or low – IQ are identified. IQ tests themselves are sometimes used too…

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    Mute Bríd Uí Mhaoluala
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    Mar 5th 2017, 2:07 PM

    The Drumcondra/ Sigma etc. tests don’t correlate with and actually caution against trying to use them in such a fashion . A Sten ten in maths may mean that the child is good at maths , but doesn’t automatically mean they are truly exceptional .
    And on the other hand a
    child with EA and dyslexia /ADHD might struggle with such tests.

    Anyone looking to learn more about the whole area of giftedness/ exceptional ability should have a look at Giftedkids.ie, an Irish run site established by parents .

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    Mute Iwonka Brozynska
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    Mar 5th 2017, 6:36 PM

    That is exactly what the STEN test should be about! – if a child scores 10 it means that that they are good at maths (actually, apparently it means they are exceptional in that subject), if 1 – they need some help – but the current system only helps the children with 1; what about those that scored 10?! Shouldn’t they be taught maths at a different level than the rest?! Shouldn’t they be taught a different MATHS programme and a STANDARD one in other subjects in which they don’t excel? I’m not talking of giving them a special care but just different attention. What is the purpose of STEN then??

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    Mute Bríd Uí Mhaoluala
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    Mar 5th 2017, 6:58 PM

    The purpose of those tests is to let parents know how their child is performing in a particular area. Children on Sten 3 or below are usually offered learning support . Children at the other end get nothing . This is DES policy .

    We constantly hear politicians drone on about our education system being the key to progress and about “our brightest and best ” yet don’t allow support for those children .

    In classes of 30 or more , it’s not possible to cater to individual needs and abilities very well. Children with additional needs are being shortchanged . You only need to look at how resource hours have been cut .
    The new model for SEN. provision will enshrine those cuts and actually remove teachers from schools performing well in standard tests.

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    Mute Caitriona Smith
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    Mar 5th 2017, 7:08 PM

    Nonsense. I always over achieved and got the top results in all standardised testing but because I worked very hard, read a lot and had very involved parents. To be honest I’m naturally terrible at Maths and really struggle with it, after getting an A in the HL Junior Cert exams I finally gave in and dropped down to Ordinary Level as the amount of work I needed to do to maintain my grade was too much with 6 other subjects too.

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    Mute Iwonka Brozynska
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    Mar 5th 2017, 8:51 PM

    Caitriona – that is the difference between high achievers and gifted children; the later get high scores in tests without much studying and without parents involvement – it just comes naturally to them, they are born with it. They usually ask for more and this is when they are let down by schools- hence the plight of the author of the article.

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    Mute Caitriona Smith
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    Mar 5th 2017, 8:55 PM

    Precisely my point about STen tests not bring a measure of IQ, something which you said they were. You’ve missed my point entirely.

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    Mute Alan Hughes
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    Mar 5th 2017, 11:39 AM

    If rather look after those who really need it like kids with learning difficulties and special needs

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    Mute keith mahon
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    Mar 5th 2017, 11:37 AM

    article 42 of the constituation clearly states the primary and natural educator of a child is the family whatever the family structure .The state guarentees the inalienable rights of the parents to provide that whatever their means, For the religious and moral, intellectual,physical and social education of their kids. parents shall be free to provide this education. The education system is programmed to keep our kids under the complete control of the state with its oppressed history and truths and ideology with one directive mass control of a nation of civil obedient uneducated gombeens, With all due respect to the victims . whats the differance between a free education and one that the elite send their kids to. statistics clearly state free education is free with dire consequences and no accountability. im personally calling on the bible to be removed from schools and replaced with constituational studies.

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