From the [UK] Independent,  BBC, [UK] Guardian, [UK] Times, [UK] Telegraph:

An official report says the British government should “radically overhaul” the system for educating kids with disabilities, finding broad evidence that parents must battle to get appropriate support for their children.

Among other findings, the inquiry said children with disabilities are eight times more likely to be excluded from school, and many are removed illegally. For example, the report found that some children were routinely excluded when there were staffing shortages or if support staff were absent.

The report said the school system was still living with the legacy of old expectations that children with disabilities could not be educated.

“My inquiry has concluded that there needs to be a major reform of the current system,” said Brian Lamb, the report’s author and chairman of the Special Education Consortium. “There needs to be a radical recasting of the relationship between parents, schools and local authorities, to ensure a clearer focus on the outcomes and life chances for children with special needs and disability.”

The government-commissioned inquiry called for the creation of a new national helpline to provide parents with information and advice, as well as funding for a government ombudsman’s office to help parents with complaints about special education.

Students with disabilities make up 20 percent of the school-age population in the UK.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 7:01 pm and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, international, special education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.