The number of specialist teachers of the deaf in England is at its lowest for a decade, leading to warnings that the decline is leaving hearing-impaired children “fighting for their futures”.
The number has fallen by 16.5% since 2011, a report by the Consortium for Research into Deaf Education shows. The report found there are 887 fully qualified teachers of the deaf, compared with 1,062 in 2011.
The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) fears the decline will worsen the achievement gap between deaf and hearing children. Deaf children already fall behind at every stage of school, the charity said, including a whole grade at GCSE. More than half of teachers (53%) are over 50, according to the report, prompting concerns that staffing levels may further drop in the next 10 to 15 years without intervention.
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/20/deaf-children-england-specialist-teacher-numbers-fall
