Nursery World - Call for specialist support for 45,000 deaf children in ‘crisis’

According to new research, specialist teachers of the deaf have been cut by 14 per cent in the last seven years, while the number of children needing support has risen by 31 per cent.

At the same time, 57 per cent of existing specialist staff are due to retire in the next 10 to 15 years.

The Consortium for Research into Deaf Education (CRIDE), which carried out the research, supported by the National Deaf Children’s Society, said the findings show the system for supporting England’s 45,631 deaf children is in ‘complete disarray’.

CRIDE’s seventh annual survey on education staffing and service provision for deaf children, which covers the 2016/17 academic year, is based upon responses from 132 services in England covering 150 out of 152 local authority areas. The remaining two local authorities were not contacted as they did not have any deaf children in their area.

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