Should All Schools Teach British Sign Language? - John Dabell

This is an interesting view on the inclusivity of schools and ow deafness can be treated a s learning disability which it most definitely is not. The writer has backed up his opinions with stats and facts and linked where they have gathered their information. The date is March 2019 which is fairly recent but whatever the topic we must take into account wherever something is pre-covid or post-covid given that this world has changed a lot. This blog uses the term 'deaf' for all levels and types of hearing loss. 

Despite deafness being the third most common disability in the world, there somehow isn't enough room in the curriculum to teach it. Imagine being told that if you are deaf and your first language is BSL: “We pride ourselves on being an inclusive school but we don’t have the time for you. ”Inclusive doesn’t just mean taking part in Sign Language Week or holding an awareness day, box ticked. Inclusive means meeting the needs of learners so they are actually included and don’t hit brick walls. Being a deaf child in a mainstream hearing school is tough going. It might not be a learning disability but the barriers to learning are significant. 

Over 78% of deaf children attend mainstream school with no specialist support in place. The number of teachers of the deaf has been cut by 14% in the past 7 years, and at the same time 31% increase in the number of children requiring support. Over twice as many deaf children (57%) fail to meet expected levels in reading, writing and maths by the end of primary school than their non-SEN peers. In addition, figures show that 30.6% of deaf children achieve a grade 5 in English and maths as compared with almost half (48.3%) of non-SEN children.

The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) is calling on the government to provide additional funds for the education of deaf children. It also wants the government to launch a recruitment drive and a centralised bursary to fund trainee specialist teachers of the deaf.

The vast majority (85%) of teachers of the deaf say their workload has increased since 2014. 87% are working additional hours to keep up with their workload and 96% say they feel stressed in their job role. More than 60% of teachers of the deaf are working the equivalent of a whole extra day per week, unpaid, just to catch up.