Welsh Conservative AM for North Wales Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to respond to the latest official figures showing that deaf school pupils in Wales are underachieving at every key stage.
Mr Isherwood, who is himself a hearing-aid wearer, is concerned that despite years of calls for action to address the attainment gap, deaf school children are still being left behind.
Raising the matter in this week’s Business Statement, he said:
“Could I call for a Statement on an issue I and others first raised with you 14 years ago, and possibly earlier in the First Assembly when I wasn’t here, and that’s deaf school pupils in Wales?
“In this UK Deaf Awareness Week 2017, the latest Welsh Government-published figures have shown that deaf school pupils in Wales are underachieving at every key stage, with the National Deaf Children’s Society Cymru saying that these pupils face being left behind without urgent action, and the figures suggesting that the attainment gap, having temporarily fallen, has widened again at GCSE level.
“Having launched the ‘Close the Gap’ petition following a poor set of results four years ago, the National Deaf Children’s Society has said the latest figures are unacceptable.
“Deafness is neither a learning disability nor a learning difficulty and there’s no reason why these pupils should be underachieving, unless and only because they’re not accessing the appropriate support. As we called for 14 years ago, that means raising deaf awareness, improving acoustics in the classroom and ensuring that deaf children and their families are supported from the start. I hope the Welsh Government will respond with a Statement on this very serious issue, having given it deep and serious consideration, and considered how we might now move forward.”
In her response Leader of the House, Jane Hutt, said: “Our national mission is to raise standards and to continue to improve the attainment of all learners, and of course deaf children’s attainment levels are crucial. We do aim to achieve this through the range of educational reforms that are currently under way.”