Deaf students should get better support in class, say young people

The group wants more training for teachers so they can better support deaf pupils

A group of young people have started a petition calling for teachers across the UK to be given compulsory training so they can provide better support for deaf students.

The petition has been signed by more than 42,000 people in just one week.

The group, which is made up of 18 young people between the ages of 13 and 19, are members of the National Deaf Children Society's Young Peoples Advisory Board (YAB). They decided to start the petition because of concerns about the number of teachers in mainstream schools who don't feel they know enough about how best to teach deaf children.

Four in five deaf children (78%) currently attend a mainstream school without specialist facilities and most teachers will have a deaf child in their classroom during their career, according to the National Deaf Children's Society.

"We created this petition because we had all had experiences of poor deaf awareness in the classroom. If this was common in a group of 18 deaf young people, how many deaf pupils are suffering when you scale this figure up to the rest of the UK? Too many," said 17-year-old Polly who helped to create the petition.

"This issue matters because all deaf pupils have a right to access their education just as well as hearing pupils can. When this doesn't happen, there can be big knock-on effects on the future chances of deaf people, such as the jobs they can get as an adult."

Not all deaf children in mainstream schools receive adequate support from their teachers

What's school like for deaf students at the moment?

A recent poll from the National Deaf Children's Society showed that two thirds (68%) of teachers aren't confident in knowing how best to educate a deaf child.

Almost 9 in 10 (86%) feel their initial teacher training didn't give them enough information to properly meet deaf children's needs and nearly all of the teachers who took part (96%) said if they were teaching a deaf pupil, they'd need ongoing support from someone with expert knowledge.

Dinah experiences examples of both good and bad deaf awareness

"I experience good and bad deaf awareness almost everyday, but an example of good deaf awareness would be when my teachers check to make sure that I have understood the lesson, and offer to go over anything I am missing," said 18-year-old Dinah.

"An example of bad deaf awareness is when my teachers and classmates talk over one another or talk to quickly, as it makes it difficult for me to follow what's being said."

The YAB wants the government to provide teachers with the training to so they help deaf children in their classes when it comes their learning.

The charity says there are currently around 33,000 deaf children in England’s schools alone

They're calling on Robin Walker, who is currently the Minister for School Standards, and the Department for Education (DfE) to provide all teachers with deaf awareness training.

"There are more than 40,000 deaf students like us at schools and colleges. Many of us miss out because teachers don't always know how to meet our needs. This stops us from achieving as well as our hearing friends. And it makes many of us feel isolated and lonely in class," the YAB wrote as part of their petition.

The group feels more training will give teaching staff the skills they need to meet deaf children's needs and they can then call in specialist support when they need it.

What has the government said?

The government says all children and young people in the UK including those who are deaf, or who have a hearing impairment, should receive the support they need to excel in the classroom.

"There is a legal requirement for qualified teachers to hold relevant mandatory qualifications when teaching classes of pupils who have a sensory impairment," a government spokesperson told Newsround.

The government also recently published what's known as the SEND and alternative provision green paper. It sets out plans for a system aimed at introducing new standards when it comes to the quality of support given to children across education, health and care.

"Our SEND and alternative provision green paper proposals will build on [current] support, aiming to change the culture and practice in mainstream education to be more inclusive. This includes through earlier intervention, improved targeted support and better workforce training."