Montgomeryshire AM calls for action to close the gap in attainment between deaf children and their hearing peers

Mick Bates AM, has offered support to a campaign to improve the life chances of deaf children and young people in Wales.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Mick Bates met last week with the Deaf Children’s Society and has now signed a Statement of Opinion, calling on the Welsh Assembly Government to take action to close the gap in attainment between deaf children and their hearing peers.

The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) Cymru, recently published data on the attainment levels of deaf children and young deaf people in Wales. The data revealed that deaf children and young people are underachieving at every key stage in their education. In 2008, deaf pupils in Wales were 30% less likely to achieve 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C than their hearing peers.

Commenting Mick Bates AM said: “I was pleased to meet with the Deaf Children’s Society to discuss the very important need to address the gap in attainment between deaf children and their fellow pupils. I find these new statistics really disappointing, too many deaf children are failing to reach the same grades as their hearing peers.

“It is essential that we act now to ensure that deaf children and young people throughout Wales are given the best support and learning environment, enabling them to reach their full potential.”

The data compares the attainment levels of deaf children, who have no other special educational needs, to the attainment levels of hearing children, who have no special educational needs. Deafness is not a learning disability and there is no reason why deaf children should not achieve the same as their hearing peers – as long as they are given the right support.

NDCS Cymru recognises that much hard work is being done to support deaf children and young people in their studies. However, the charity has identified a number of barriers which are preventing many deaf children and young people from reaching their full potential. These barriers include:

• Poor acoustics in schools
• Post code lottery in service provision
• Lack of deaf awareness

The data covers deaf children who are on School Action, School Action Plus, and in receipt of a Statement. Due to the way in which data is collected, it covers some, but not all, deaf children who do not receive specialist support. Therefore, NDCS Cymru continues to campaign for more robust data on the attainment of all deaf children.

NDCS is the national charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and young people. We represent the interests and campaign for the rights of all deaf children and young people from birth to independence. NDCS represents children with a range of hearing loss, including mild, moderate, severe, profound, unilateral and temporary hearing loss.