Deaf children facing a crisis in classroom

THE number of specialist teachers for deaf children has been cut by 14% since the Tories came to power, a study shows today.

The drop has come as the number of deaf children in England rose 31%.

The Consortium for Research in Deaf Education found a crisis looming with 57% of existing specialist staff due to retire in the next 10 to 15 years.

A quarter of councils struggle with one specialist teacher for 80 students.

Susan Daniels, of the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “Without action, we face one of the biggest crises for deaf children seen in my lifetime.”