MP supports campaign to improve attainment levels of deaf children

Paul Rowen at the NDCS campaign outside Parliament

Rochdale MP Paul Rowen is supporting the National Deaf Children’s Society’s (NDCS) campaign to close the attainment gap that exists between deaf and hearing children. Mr Rowen attended the launch of the NDCS campaign report, ‘Must do better’, last week.

There is a significant attainment gap across the UK. For example, statistics reveal that deaf children across England are 42% less likely to achieve 5 GCSEs at grades A to C than hearing children and in the North West only 43% of deaf children are likely to achieve 5 GCSEs at grades A* to C compared to the national average of 57%.

Paul Rowen MP said: “I am fully supporting the NDCS ‘Must do better’ campaign report. It was fantastic to meet some deaf children and to talk to them about what their hopes and dreams are for the future. There is absolutely no reason why deaf children without additional needs should not be achieving on a par with their hearing peers and fulfilling their potential”.

Susan Daniels, NDCS Chief Executive added: “It is fantastic that Paul Rowen MP is supporting the rights of deaf children. Today we are calling on governments across the UK to take a lead and make a commitment to close the attainment gap between deaf children and their hearing peers by 2022. The national governments of the UK must give leadership, set standards and provide funding to ensure that no deaf child is left behind. A comprehensive strategy, tailored and targeted at the specific needs of deaf children is urgently required; without this deaf children will continue to be left behind”.

The NDCS campaign report ‘Must do better’ details the key barriers to deaf children’s achievement and provides detailed solutions for the government to act on. Research outlined in the report shows that parents with deaf children experience considerable geographical variations in the information given to them, the quality of audiology services, family support, specialist education support and local authority provision.

The research further highlights that parents, teachers and specialist staff are not getting the resources they need from local authorities to be able to support deaf children. A recent survey of parents with deaf children, outlined in the report, shows that one in five parents with deaf children believe that their child’s school or early years’ setting has low expectations of what their child can achieve.

Over 100 MPs have shown their support for the NDCS Close the gap campaign by signing an Early Day Motion, calling on the government to take action to address the attainment gap that exists between deaf and hearing children.