Policy What will happen to Disabled children and Young people under proposed ‘Levelling Up’ measures? By Richard Rieser, World of Inclusion Published at the beginning of February 2022, at the height of the ongoing saga of whether Boris Johnson should go or stay, some might cynically argue that the Levelling Up White Paper was released to take the pressure off the Prime Minister. However, the approach taken is likely to give up clues about what will be in the forthcoming (Easter) and much delayed Department for Education SEND Review. Levelling Up does not offer new money but instead consists of proposed solutions, based on a historical, geographical and multi variable statistical analysis of the social, economic, educational and health disparities across the UK, and in particular England. Solutions that are largely leading to repackaging and redistribution of funds, in already announced Government initiatives. It proposes 12 new initiatives including several measures for education. These include setting up 55 Educational Investment Areas (EIA) where in normative KS 2 test results of 65% of pupils meeting standards in reading, writing and maths with a pledge that 90% will be achieving these levels by 2030 with similar improvements in KS 4 Standard 8 measures. Schools in these areas that repeatedly require improvement by Ofsted, will be handed over to ‘strong’ Multi Academy Trusts (MATs). The Oak online platform developed during the COVID-19 pandemic will be nationalised to provide ‘high quality curriculum and learning support.' The existing Supported Internships for young people with Education Health and Care Plans will be doubled, providing learning placements in workplaces with job coaches for 6 months to 1 year, to prevent them just revolving on schemes and make real progress towards economic independence. Parents will welcome extra funding for respite and £45million to get the SEND system working more effectively.
16
To achieve this, Science and Maths teachers will be paid a retention bonus of £3000 per annum and schools that have repeatedly been shown by OFSTED to require improvement will be forced to join successful Academy School chains. They will also be given support to tackle attendance issues. The National Education Unions, who represent the largest group of teachers and those who work in schools, commented “Whilst the National Education Union welcomes any new investment in schools it is vital to note, as the National Audit Office (NAO) has pointed out, "there has been a relative re-distribution of funding from the most deprived schools to the least deprived schools.” (1) “We can see that many of the areas now targeted for support have been among the hardest hit by education cuts over the last decade - on the Government's own watch, and entirely of its own making”. None of these measures will make a great impact on the growing disparity on attainment of Disabled and non-Disabled students in mainstream schools, which remains a gap of around 50%, or improve social and creative outcomes. Twelve years of this Government austerity has led to school cuts, which have largely destroyed the support structures in schools provided by teaching assistants and seen centrally employed specialist teams of teachers greatly diminished.
