Charities demand support for additional support needs education in the Highlands
A COALITION of disability charities is urging all 32 Scottish local authorities to maintain vital funding for children and young people with additional support needs (ASN).
This comes as Highland Council undertakes controversial reforms of ASN provision in the region that have triggered opposition from parents who formed a group to challenge the move and stage numerous protests.
Among the charities that have added their names to the letter are the Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland, ENABLE Scotland, Down’s Syndrome Scotland, Lead Scotland, National Deaf Children’s Society, Scottish Autism and the Alliance.
They issued the call on behalf of an estimated 199,000 children who have physical, sensory or learning disabilities in mainstream education as well as those with health conditions.
In the letter to council leaders, the charities emphasise that ASN provision is crucial to ensuring all school pupils get the chance to achieve their full potential.
The letter stated: “Without access to specialist teachers and assistants, pupils with additional support needs will not get equal access to education as their peers.
“With proper support they can engage with their peers, take part in activities that they may otherwise be excluded from and grow their confidence and independent living skills.
“ASN, in its most basic form, allows the pupil to access the core curriculum, but in practice it does so much more than that.”
Highland Council believes that there is an over-provision of pupil support assistants and ASN teachers and has reduced them over several months through redeployment while aiming to shed millions of pounds in expenditure.
The letter asked councils how many ASN pupils they have, how much money is allocated for this year compared to last, and how many specialist support teachers and pupil support assistants they employ.
