Home News Disabled education workers and students suffering under austerity measures, says TUC

Disabled education workers and students suffering under austerity measures, says TUC

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Government reforms and austerity measures are endangering the education of young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), says a new report published today (Monday) by the TUC.

The report Disabled Workers and Students in Education also says that reforms have reversed progress being made towards an educational system that welcomes and respects disabled staff.

The TUC report looks first at the experience of disabled teaching staff in the UK and then at the effects of various changes to the SEND system. Responses from trade union surveys illustrate the points raised by the report.

The study identifies a number of key reasons for the decline in progress in the area of SEND:

  • Discrimination against disabled staff members (77 per cent of disabled NASUWT members reported facing discrimination).
  • Increasing workloads leading to rising stress levels among staff (surveys suggest that 60-hour weeks are common).
  • Local authority funding cuts leading to reduced SEND services (local authority funding dropped by more than 40 per cent between 2010 and 2015).
  • Regular changes to the curriculum (71 per cent of NUT members believe the curriculum does not meet the needs of pupils with SEND).
  • Abolition of the Educational Maintenance Allowance in 2011 (pupils with SEND were more likely to be eligible for this post-16 education funding).

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“It is clear that the government’s austerity policy is jeopardising the educational opportunities for young people with special needs and disabilities.

“And it’s not just the students that are suffering. Disabled teachers are facing discrimination and soaring stress levels as a result of the government’s continuous changes to the structure of the school system and the curriculum.”

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