North Wales MS and Chair of the Cross-Party Group on Disability, Mark Isherwood, has welcomed the fact that modified examination materials are available for certain disabled pupils in some subjects, but called for the Welsh Government to ensure such materials are “are hardwired into future provision across Wales”.
Questioning the First Minister in this afternoon’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament on action the Welsh Government is taking to ensure that the communication needs of disabled pupils are met in schools, Mr Isherwood referred to the modified materials which had been provided to a disabled pupil in North Wales in some subjects, but was concerned the pupil’s school was not aware of them.
He therefore called on the First Minister to ensure such materials are more readily available throughout Wales and in a wider range of subjects.
Speaking in the Chamber, he said:
“Developmental Language Disorder, or DLD, is diagnosed when children fail to acquire their own language for no obvious reason, which can result in their having difficulty understanding what people say to them and struggling to articulate their ideas and feelings.
“On 17th October, the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in Wales held an event in the Senedd to mark Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) Awareness Day, where I met the DLD Ambassador for Wales, who is also a North Wales constituent and whose son is diagnosed with DLD.
“She told me they were able to obtain WJEC Language Modification GCSE exam papers for him in some subjects, but were told they're not available in all subjects. Further, their son's school had never heard of them.
“The Royal College subsequently wrote to WJEC, stating this was the first time they had seen modified papers from an examination board, and requesting further detail. WJEC responded positively, offering a discussion to learn more about how they can support all candidates taking their examinations.
“What action will the Welsh Government now take to ensure that modified examination materials such as this are hardwired into future provision across Wales?”
Responding, the First Minister said:
“I thank the Member because it's an important point that he raises, and I think the system more generally is more alert to and responsive to that range of young people with communication needs. It's good to know that the WJEC has made such a positive response and, having made a start with some of their papers available in that way, I'm quite sure they will want to learn from that and see if more can be done.”