Children with learning disabilities are being excluded from education despite policies designed to include them, MSPs will be told today [tues].
A members debate will consider whether the educational policy of mainstreaming is working, amid concerns that a lack of resources is leaving pupils short-changed.
The policy is founded on the presumption that pupils with any kind of disability are better off learning with their peers in mainstream classes, rather than special provision.
But Jan Savage, director of external affairs at the charity Enable Scotland said a "creeping reduction of specialism" had crippled the ability of schools to deliver for pupils with learning disabilities. She added "The presumption of mainstream has delivered a generation of young people who have a learning disability attending the same school as their wider peer group. But simply being present does not mean you are included."
Angus South MSP Graeme Dey has secured a members debate on the Enable Scotland report Included in the Main, the findings of which were revealed by the Herald in December, and showed that neither teachers, parents nor pupils themselves were satisfied that the policy is working
Mr Dey's motion says that much progress has been made from a time when people with learning disabilities were seen as ineducable, but says "inclusive education is still far from a reality for many and ... this can have whole-life consequences."
Ms Savage added: "With the number of additional support for learning teachers in Scotland falling, last year, to its lowest level since 2007, - we have a problem. That specialist expertise is vital if we are ever to realise the ambition of true inclusion. No child should be excluded from the opportunities available to their classmates and peers. To do so, on the basis of their disability, is in violation of the Equality Act 2010. And yet they are:
"Parents know about this, education staff know about this, children feel it. This begs the question - why is it still happening?"
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