Teachers of the Deaf numbers hit record low as charity warns of ‘educational emergency’ (BSL)

The number of teachers of deaf children in England has fallen for the eight time in a decade to its lowest level on record, it has been revealed, with the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) warning of an “educational emergency” without urgent government support.

The Consortium for Research Into Deaf Education (CRIDE), which surveys local authority specialist education services for deaf children each year, found the number of qualified teachers of the deaf in employment in 2022 was just over 860 people – compared to more than 1,060 people in 2022.

The average annual decline of 2.8% means NDCS fears there will be just 727 teachers of the deaf in 2030 – a drop of almost a third since 2012 – while more than half of the existing workforce is due to retire in the next 10 to 15 years.

More than a quarter of services have reportedly found it difficult to recruit new teachers of the deaf to permanent or supply roles, which the charity says is often due to a lack of qualified applicants.

Increasing caseloads mean on average, every peripatetic (travelling) teacher of the deaf has – in theory – a caseload of 63 deaf children, compared to 46 a decade ago.

Sherrie, mum to a 10-year-old profoundly deaf daughter, said: “The support that ToDs [teachers of the deaf] are able to provide has reduced drastically to now my daughter will see our new ToD around three times a year.

“She is doing very well academically but this means that the support she receives is less, our school are less informed, and our daughter has really struggled the last year with strategies to help her socially.”

Meanwhile Brian, from north Wales and father to profoundly deaf teenager Dylan, revealed one ToD at his son’s school left in September, with another retiring this month.

“The provision for the unit will now be a part-time ToD. I can understand, for budgetary reasons, why they are not replacing [staff as] I think there are five to six children attached to the unit currently.

“My concern is now Dylan is going into his GCSE years, there will be limited specialist support available,” hew said.

Responding to the latest CRIDE statistics, NDCS said it is calling on the government to explain how its response to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) green paper will address the worsening crisis.

It added a specialist SEND workforce strategy is needed with the aim of training and recruiting 200 new qualified teachers of the deaf – the number required to bring staffing numbers back to their 2012 levels.

Ian Noon, NDCS’ chief policy adviser, said: “Teachers of the Deaf play a crucial role in supporting deaf children of all ages, but year after year they’re being cut as a money saving exercise. Our projected figures for 2030 are truly alarming.

“This educational emergency will leave thousands of deaf children fighting for their futures as they continue to fall behind at every stage of school.

“The Government must commit to investing in Teachers of the Deaf to ensure every deaf child receives the support they need to reach their full potential.”

In a statement, a Department for Education spokesperson said “all children and young people” – including those who are deaf – “should receive the support they need” so they can “succeed in their education”.

“We are putting significant investment into the high needs budget, which will be worth £10.1bn by 2023-24, a rise of over 50% over four years – and which will support the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers,” they said.

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.