Only one in 25 North West teachers think the current education system fully supports deaf children

Just one in 25 of teachers in the North West of England think the current education system allows deaf children to hit their full potential, a new survey from the National Deaf Children’s Society reveals.

The poll, of around 5,700 primary and secondary school teachers from across England, released today, found around six in ten teachers in the North West believe deaf children will continue to underachieve at school without changes to the current system.

Even though deafness is not a learning disability, deaf children already achieve less than their hearing classmates at every stage of school on average.

In August, the charity revealed deaf pupils achieved an entire grade less at GCSE, for the seventh consecutive year. The National Deaf Children’s Society says deaf young people are being consistently failed by the education system.

The Department for Education is currently reviewing how disabled children are supported in schools as part of its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Review.

The charity urges the Government to use this opportunity to develop a plan to provide effective, long-term specialist support. It wants to see investment in more Teachers of the Deaf, whose numbers have been slashed by 17% in a decade.

Teachers of the Deaf are qualified teachers who have taken further training and qualified to teach children with a hearing loss. They provide support to deaf children, their parents and family, and to other professionals who are involved with a child’s education, particularly mainstream schools which may only have one deaf pupil.

Without this investment, the charity says there could be a long-term, devastating effect on deaf children’s education, with future generations also left to struggle.

There are currently around 33,000 deaf children in schools across England, with the vast majority (84%) in mainstream schools. There are around 6,300 deaf children in the North West of England.

Mike Hobday, Director of Policy and Campaigns at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said:

“The overwhelming message from teachers across England is that the current system prevents them from helping deaf children to reach their full potential in school, which is a damning indictment.

“Deaf children already achieve less than their hearing classmates at every stage of school and it is gut-wrenching that most teachers do not believe this will change.

“The Government must use the SEND review to finally level the playing field for deaf pupils by investing in more Teachers of the Deaf. Failing to do so will leave thousands of deaf children to struggle on alone.”