IT is a dispiriting fact that children with additional educational needs (ASN) are more likely to come from lower income families. It is, in effect, a disadvantage piled on a disadvantage and yet it has to be asked whether we are doing enough to help the children who fall into this category.
It does not help that at precisely the time that the number of pupils with ASN has increased, the number of additional support teachers in Scotland has fallen. But what can make the situation even worse is when the scare resources are unevenly distributed.
And yet this would appear to be what is happening with the system that identifies pupils who have ASN, which can include mental, social and emotional difficulties as well as conditions such as autism. According to a study at Edinburgh University, middle class parents are likely to secure better support for their children than parents from poorer backgrounds because they have better resources or resilience or have professional connections which they can exploit. The report also suggests staff may be more likely to listen to a persistent middle class parent.
Obviously, the study cannot explain the experiences and behaviour of every parent or teacher, but the disparity that the study identifies is not new – part of the reason for the differences in state schools is the ability of some middle class parents to find the best school for their child, even if that means moving to an expensive area.
But the fact that poorer families appear to be less likely to be given a co-ordinated support plan, the document which means councils must ensure the pupil receives support, is worrying. Possible misdiagnosis of ASN may well need investigation. But in the meantime, supporting all children with ASN equally is vital to close the educational attainment gap.
What that means in practice is intervention as early as possible but it also means providing the resources that are needed. Anything else runs the risk of deepening, rather than tackling, a disadvantage that affects thousands of children in Scotland.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here