Support for Scotland’s deaf children on slide since 2011

Thousands of deaf children across Scotland are not getting enough support after a significant drop in the number of specialist support teachers over a decade, figures show.

A report published by the Consortium for Research into Deaf Education (CRIDE) found that the number of Teachers of the Deaf with the mandatory qualification has fallen 40% from 165 in 2011 to 100 in 2022.

And the National Deaf Children’s Society is warning that the situation is likely to get worse, with around 45% of specialist teachers planning to retire over the next decade.

The charity said that Teachers of the Deaf play a vital role in supporting the language and communication development of deaf children and warned that increasing numbers of such youngsters are missing out on this support.

Mark Ballard, head of policy and influencing for Scotland with the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “Every deaf child in Scotland should, as a fundamental right, be able to get the support they need from a fully qualified Teacher of the Deaf to help them reach their full potential.

“With the right support in place, deaf children can achieve anything their peers can, but sadly, this simply isn’t happening. The latest Scottish Government statistics show they’re twice as likely to leave school with no qualifications and half as likely to go to university.

“That’s why we want to see a commitment from local authorities and the Scottish Government to work together to return the number of fully qualified Teachers of the Deaf employed across Scotland to the 2011 level.”