Over 40,000 people sign petition calling for compulsory deaf awareness training for teachers

A Change.org petition calling for increased deaf awareness in the classroom has received more than 40,000 signatures, a week after it was set up by a group of deaf young people.

The petition, addressed to Schools Minister Robin Walker, was created by teenagers from the National Deaf Children’s Society’s (NDCS) Young People’s Advisory Board (YAB) on 28 March.

Polly, 17, one of the members of the YAB, said: “We created this petition because we had all had experiences of poor deaf awareness in the classroom.

“If this was common in a group of 18 deaf young people, how many deaf pupils are suffering when you scale this figure up to the rest of the UK? Too many.”

Other students, meanwhile, reported feeling “isolated or lonely” with some teachers “completely clueless” about the challenges they can face.

The action comes as only 3% of teachers in England felt their teacher training gave them the information needed to support deaf pupils, with more than half of teachers expected to teach a deaf child at some point in their career.

Research has also found deaf children – of which there are around 33,000 in England – achieve an entire GCSE grade lower on average than their hearing peers.

Alongside mandatory deaf awareness training, the petition demands the Government introduce “regular refreshers” for teachers.

Rosie Eggleston, Participation Manager at NDCS, added: “By creating this petition, deaf young people are clearly saying they’ve been affected by this issue, lived that experience and want to make positive change.

“It’s a brave step and we want their crucial message to reach as many people as possible, making it impossible to ignore.

“No child should have to feel isolated and lonely at school, let alone find themselves in a classroom where their teacher can’t meet their needs. If the Government is serious about giving every child a superb education, it’s time for real change and thousands of people have already signed to show their support.

“Education is a right, not a privilege, and this doesn’t change because you’re deaf.”

The Limping Chicken has contacted the Department for Education for comment.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.