Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament
Bil Aelod Arfaethedig – Mark Isherwood AS | Proposed Member Bill - Mark Isherwood MS
Datblygu'r Bil Iaith Arwyddion Prydain (BSL) (Cymru) | Development of the British Sign Language (BSL) (Wales) Bill
Ymateb gan: Undeb Addysg Cenedlaethol Cymru | Evidence from: National Education Union Cymru
National Education Union Cymru supports the General Principles of this planned British Sign Language (Wales) Bill. It is clear that D/deaf children and young people need more support in education, and we welcome the aims of the Bill in highlighting the need for this. Everyone should be able to access education, as it is a human right.
We agree with the aims of the Bill. Everyone should have access to services. Our members are in the education sector, where it is clear more support is needed for D/deaf children.
Whilst we note that BSL is a language, we also note you highlight that the ALN Code references that deaf children are “more likely to have an additional learning need”. Our members tell us that the Additional Learning Needs and Tribunals (Wales) Act is not working in the way that it was intended. Whilst we supported the aspirations of the Act, the current funding does not support schools and colleges in ensuring that every child has all the additional learning provision they need. We therefore support the aims of the Bill in promoting and facilitating the use of BSL, in all its forms, in Wales.
We therefore believe substantial funding and training is needed for both teaching and support staff in schools and colleges to ensure that they are enabled to support D/deaf children to fulfil their potential.
We believe that the terminology and route to inclusion should be decided by the D/deaf communities of Wales, and that they should be consulted on service delivery, to ensure they are fully included.
We note that there is already the Equality Act (2010) and the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), which contains specific duties for Wales’ public bodies. However, we note that from an education perspective, more needs to be done to deliver equitable access to education for D/deaf children and young people, and that as you highlight, outcomes are behind that of their hearing peers.
We believe it is critical for substantial funding to accompany this legislation in order that it provides meaningful change to the D/deaf people.