Disabled children and young people’s equal access to education in Wales

ALLFIE has always held the view and campaigned (backed by Article 24 (on inclusive education) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and one of the main pillars of independent living, Article 19) for an equitable inclusive education system, as the foundation to the inclusion and citizenship of Disabled people from childhood into adulthood in mainstream societies.   

The new report published by the Welsh Assembly’s Children, Young People and Education Committee, ‘Do Disabled children and young people have equal access to education and childcare?’, touches on some of the arguments for inclusion in the education system that ALLFIE has often campaigned on. However, there are still some actions needed to fully convince us that inclusive education will be fully committed to in Wales. 

The opening remark from the committee Chair, Buffy Williams MS gives us some encouragement, as she stated: 

“Good early years childcare followed by education is essential for all children and young people to develop into the adults they want to be. Yet too many disabled and neurodivergent children and young people are not getting these opportunities. I believe this report is an important moment for policymakers to acknowledge this, and start to make the changes to deliver more inclusive childcare and education” (Buffy Williams MS, Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee)

The report was written in response to the Welsh Government and its education system’s current implementation of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 and the reform that the new bill will introduce. We are however quick to note that the responsibility, largely borne by schools, is putting a lot of pressure on their finances and they have seen a fall in the number of Disabled children/young people being issued Individual Development Plans (IDPs). 

The new Additional Learning Needs (ALN) system, which is further reforming the 2018 system, is being introduced over four years: September 2021 to August 2025. In the latest Inclusion Now 69 Summer Edition, Helen Borley head teacher at Mount Stuart Primary School in Cardiff, in an interview with Yewande Akintelu-Omoniyi (Our Voice Project Youth Officer), and Michelle Daley (Director), described the process for Individual Development Plans (IDPs) as being: 

“Run by the schools, and they are for children with identified additional learning. To be deemed to have a need that is different from and in addition to anything you would normally offer in a classroom. So, for example, a child may have a diagnosis of autism, or a child may have ADHD, or it may be that they have Global Delay. That system is then supported by the Cardiff Council who have to then agree with the school that the child has identified an ALN (Additional Learning Need). That then goes to a panel and the children are given support via a team. It might be a Learning Team, it might be an Autism Team, it might be a Speech and Language Team, it might be Disability Team. It might be whatever team they are most suited to.”  

Helen further provided context to ALNET Bill reforms including funding changes:  

“If a child has an identified, agreed ALN they are not automatically given funding to meet those additional needs.” She further explained that “At the moment, we are given a pot of money that we are to use with all children with ALN, not just those with IDPs, to ensure they make progress. Now that is complex because for some children the funding is ringfenced, so for children with an identified Disability funding is ringfenced. So, a child with VI [visual impairment] or a wheelchair user they get ringfenced funding which is separate to that.”  

On the school’s challenges, she noted:  

“As with all pots of money it does not meet the needs that you have in the school so inevitably, there is a fairly large amount of budget that is spent on supporting learning in classrooms, either by additional adults… usually, or additional support via interventions or reading support or emotional and social support.”   

The language of the reforms introduced to replace the SEN system and these ongoing reforms and implementation, ALLFIE believes, need to change from a needy position to an entitlement position because inclusive education, as we have referenced above, is a human and equality rights issue. We however applaud the committee’s call to the Labour led Welsh Government to engage with the report, and recommendations therein should apply to all the nations of the United Kingdom.  If this happens, our campaign to see an inclusive education law will one day become a reality, guaranteeing a right to access education in mainstream settings for all Disabled people. 

We were also encouraged by the use of language and framework of the report. They acknowledged on page 15 that all of their work is framed through the prism of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and, for the inquiry, they have also been very mindful of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). They have also used the Social Model of Disability to frame their work. 

Highlights and reflections 

There are 32 recommendations to the Welsh Government in the Report, but our reflections are focused on those with clear principles within the Social Model of Disability. We have also highlighted where there are mentions of inclusive education as a right for all Disabled people:  

• Recommendation 19. The Welsh Government commissions the development of a mandatory training module for all school staff on ‘disability awareness’. This should cover the Social Model of Disability and equip all staff in a school with a 12 basic level of awareness, as well as signposting them to other resources if they want to develop their skills and expertise. It should also be in line with the latest research and clinical knowledge, and be kept up to date to reflect any subsequent changes or developments – ALLFIE reflects: this mandatory training should go further, to include mandatory courses on inclusive education training for teachers in their training courses (Demand 5 ALLFIE Manifesto 2024 on Inclusive Education), and instead of disability awareness, Inclusive Education training should be based on the Social Model, the Equality Act and the UN Convention on the rights of Disabled people. 

• Recommendation 20. The Welsh Government should issue guidance to schools and local authorities to ensure that either new buildings, or changes to current school estates, are based on the experiences and evidence of children, young people, families and staff with lived experience. This engagement should also ensure that future needs are considered so that buildings are fully accessible to all who may attend in the future. ALLFIE completely supports this recommendation and would like to see it strengthened by referencing The Equality Act 2010

• Recommendation 24. The Welsh Government undertakes further work to ensure a streamlining of services to fully deliver a no wrong door approach across all public services, but with particular reference to the interaction between health and education services. This work should identify the barriers to effective coordination between services, as well as identifying best practice, and mechanisms for sharing this best practice. ALLFIE was encouraged by this, recognising that the scattered approach to support by different education, health and social care services have caused a lot of harm to Disabled children/young people and their families.  

• We noted that page 76 of the report referenced the Equality and Human Rights Commission assertion that: “Wales does not have a fully inclusive system and that the numbers of children in ‘specialist provision’ is increasingly “significantly”. This means Wales isn’t really moving in the direction the UN would recommend”.
  The committee further referenced the UN Committee’s criticism of the reservations that the UK Government has placed on the UNCRPD. The report went on to quote the EHRC statement, that the UN Committee recommended that the right thing to do is for every child to have an inclusive education in mainstream school, properly supported and properly funded. This is a welcome development to see an acknowledgement in a UK legislative related report quoting views ALLFIE holds and been campaigning on for over 30 years. Sadly, on the same page the report dampened our excitement by quoting another EHRC’s statement acknowledging there may be some children and young people for whom ‘specialist’ provision is more appropriate. ALLFIE insists inclusive education is a human right that must be implemented for all Disabled people in mainstream education settings. 

• The report gave voice to a wide range of people including those who are comfortable with segregation in education, but ALLFIE was particularly enthused to in see in paragraph 240 (page 83) the amplification of the voice of one parent for inclusion who testified and said, “if their child was not in a mainstream setting “his non-disabled peers wouldn’t know that he exists.”
  In support of inclusive education, Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales said that this segregation “can only serve to exacerbate perceptions of ‘difference’ and perpetuate both internalised and societal ableism.” The report again quoted the Equality and Human Rights Commission which said inclusive education “benefits the whole community, the whole school community”. They said when you go to “fully resourced schools where children are fully integrated, the benefits for all the pupils, both the children and their families is huge.”
  ALLFIE is demanding a redirection of resources and funding from segregated settings into mainstream settings, as per Demand 3 of ALLFIE Manifesto 2024 on Inclusive Education. 
  Learning Disability Wales said there was the need for “much, much more support for non-disabled children to understand how to support their peers. 

• At ALLFIE we know that inclusive education covers more than just curriculum justice or even academics. It was therefore very encouraging to know that the committee took evidence from organisations and parents about social and physical education inclusion in schools. They visited a school where they wanted to have more opportunities, including having PE on a weekly basis, and wanted access to a wider range of sports. RNIB Cymru said that assumptions are often made about what children and young people with vision impairments can do, citing a lack of access to PE and sport, which can have long term impacts. While Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales also said that PE often does not cater to “needs outside of the default ‘non-disabled’ person, which can have implications for health and well-being far into the future.” 

• In concluding our reflections and observations to this report, we would like to restate what the committee said about inclusive education: “On the basic question as to whether Wales should move to a fully inclusive system as set out by the UNCRPD, we agree that that a fully inclusive education system is what we should be striving for, but we are very far away from that. This does not mean we do not believe the work should start on how we can move toward a fully inclusive system, but we acknowledge that is a huge piece of work that will take time. In the meantime, we need a laser like focus on what can be done to improve for children and young people now”  

• The Welsh Government was also quoted on page 90 and paragraph 267 of the report stating that they seek to: “…transform the expectations, learning experiences and outcomes for children and young people. Both emphasise an inclusive education system which balances equity of access to the curriculum for all learners with addressing the needs of individual learners.” 

Conclusion 

This report, we believe, fed into so many views and testimonies which reinforce the need for all UK countries to reconsider their position and establish inclusive education as a fundamental human right for all Disabled people. Also, for this to be the only approach in the education system, and wider society beyond. The report however fell short of endorsing a complete inclusive education system, which ALLFIE demands. We found that, although it referenced a lot of views from many Disabled young people, families and organisations, and visited many schools, including mainstream schools that championed an inclusive system based on the UNCRPD and the Social Model of Disability, it sat on the fence by also suggesting inclusive education cannot practically be achieved now. It also failed to establish that what should always be in high consideration is the best interest of the child. 

By Iyiola Olafimihan, ALLFIE’s Campaigns and Justice Lead

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