Premier Andrew Furey says solutions are being offered to a Howley family whose eight-year-old autistic son has missed out on weeks of school because he doesn’t have consistent access to a student assistant.

Ashton Pearce requires a student assistant on the hour-long bus ride between his home and Elwood Elementary in Deer Lake, but that service has not been available for both trips back and forth each day for some time.

Ashton’s father, Chris Pearce told VOCM News Talk on Monday that he can see the impact missing out on school is having on his son.

Opposition Education critic Barry Petten questioned Premier Andrew Furey, who is the MHA for the area, in the House of Assembly.

Chris Pearce meanwhile, says despite assurances that his son would have a student assistant in place, when his son showed up on the bus stop this morning, there was no one there to receive him. Pearce says it appears as though no-one told the student assistant that they would be needed and were it not for the bus driver, his son would not have been able to attend school today.