The 50,000 deaf children in the UK are being failed by a ‘badly-designed, inaccessible education system that does not deliver for them’.
The damning appraisal comes from the National Deaf Children’s Society analysis of 2019 figures which shows that, for the past five years, deaf children achieved a whole grade less than hearing children at GCSE.
Almost three quarters of hearing children attain grade 4 (the old grade C) in maths and English. The figure for D/deaf children is under half.
It is calling on government to provide solutions to the key challenges which affect D/deaf children’s education.
DR UK’s CEO Kamran Mallick said: “This research is concerning, especially given that, as we wait for 2020’s results to come out this week, we know that Coronavirus has had a severe impact on D/deaf children’s ability to access their usual support.
“There are too many barriers for exhausted families to climb when it comes to accessing the support their children need. The government needs to sweep these away as it rebuilds education. D/deaf children should have parity of learning experience as standard throughout their lives at school.”