by Mark McLaughlin
BLIND and deaf children are being taught by unqualified tutors prompting concerns that disabled pupils in Scotland are receiving sub-standard education.
Scathing reports about the state of education for sensory impaired children have been prepared as MSPs probe teacher workforce planning.
It has emerged that vision impaired children are being taught by students and support teachers without the required qualifications, according to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in Scotland.
The National Deaf Children’s Society is also concerned about the number of Teachers of the Deaf (ToDs) who do not hold the mandatory qualification, complaining about a lack of monitoring and regulation and a pressure on budgets.
The inquiry comes amid growing concerns about staff shortages in schools of all abilities throughout Scotland, with figures showing one hundred head teacher and deputy posts remained unfilled at the start of the school year.
In March, a major report on the health of Scottish education by school inspectors warned the recruitment crisis was damaging the quality on offer to pupils.
Charities have warned that children are already at a disadvantage because of their sensory impairment, and the lack of qualified teachers is making matters worse.
More than three-fifths of school leavers in Scotland secured one or more Higher at grade A-C in 2012/13 – but vision impaired leavers were nearly half as likely to achieve those grades and less than a third of vision impaired people are employed.
Figures show more than one in ten deaf pupils left school with no qualifications last year, compared with 2.6 per cent of all pupils.
Less than two-fifths obtained Highers or Advanced Highers, compared with nearly three-fifths of all pupils, and under a quarter go to university, compared with over two-fifths of unimpaired pupils .
A spokesman for RNIB Scotland said: “We have anecdotal evidence of teachers still in training for their qualification and general additional support teachers being employed as Qualified Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (QTVI) to make up for the shortage of support for students with a vision impairment.
“As the needs of children and young people with a visual impairment are particularly specialised this support is inadequate.”
RNIB is also concerned about the imminent retirement of most of Scotland’s current QTVIs
Three-fifths of QTVIs are over 45 years old as there is “no incentive for young people” to train, with a full time one year postgraduate course costing £9,500.
The National Deaf Children’s Society said: "We are concerned at the number of ToDs who do not hold the mandatory qualification to work with deaf children.
“This indicates both a lack of monitoring of regulation of teaching qualifications at a local and national level and pressure on continuing professional development budgets which are critical to ensuring learners with additional support needs are supported appropriately.”
Scottish Labour's Monica Lennon said the lack of qualified teachers for deaf and blind pupils was an "outrage".
“Time and again the SNP has said that education is its number one priority but here is another story to prove that it is letting pupils, teachers and parents down.
"And this revelation comes just days after we learned that there has been an 11 per cent cut in Additional Support for Learning spend per pupil since 2012/13."
A spokesman for the Scottish Government spokesman said: “Education authorities are required to identify, provide for and to review the additional support required by their pupils.
“Furthermore, education authorities are required to ensure that teachers working with pupils with sensory impairments have appropriate qualifications.
“The Scottish Government has been developing an action plan to respond to the Education Committee’s recommendations on the attainment of pupils with sensory impairment, including a survey of the qualifications of those working with hearing and visually impaired pupils.”
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