This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Equality for children in special schools
05/04/2002
New measures to improve education provision for children
with special educational needs have been announced
today.
Guidance to education authorities to bring the length of
the school week in special schools into line with
mainstream schools is to be issued as well as further
guidance on the rights of children with special educational
needs to be included in mainstream schools.
To support these changes, the Minister for Education and
Young People, Cathy Jamieson announced increased resources
for education authorities under the Executive's Inclusion
Programme, which is being increased from £14.3 million in
2001-02 to £20 million in both 2002-03 and 2003-04.
Ms Jamieson said:
"Children with special educational needs deserve the
same opportunities available to other children and deserve
to be treated fairly wherever they are educated.
"I am therefore keen to use our Inclusion Programme to
promote equality of treatment for children in special
schools - to help education authorities 'equalise' the
length of the school week in special schools.
"At present, many children in special schools receive up
to five hours per week less educational provision than
their friends in mainstream schools. That is up to five
hours per week less to benefit from provision that can help
their development. It does not make sense that these
children receive less support, and I am determined to
change that.
"We are also issuing guidance to local authorities on
supporting children with special educational needs in
mainstream schools. This follows from the Standards in
Scotlands' Schools Act which established a presumption in
favour of mainstreaming for children with special
educational needs.
"In taking these issues forward and significantly
increasing the resources available to local authorities to
deliver these priorities, we are underlining our commitment
to providing the best possible education for all our young
people."
The SEN Inclusion Programme has been part of the
Executive's Excellence Fund. Funding will rise from £14.3
million in 2001-02 to £20 million in both 2002-03 and
2003-04. This funding is provided mainly to assist local
authorities with the additional costs of supporting
children with SEN in mainstream schools. It can now also be
used by education authorities to increase the number of
hours educational provision offered to children in special
schools.
In the majority of special schools the length of the
school week is 22.5 hours or less. There is a widely
accepted norm of 25 hours and 27.5 hours for primary and
secondary mainstream schools respectively. The Executive
will be issuing guidance to education authorities aimed at
equalising the hours between special and mainstream schools
by August 2003.
The Executive will also be issuing guidance advising
education authorities on their duty to provide education in
a mainstream school, subject to certain circumstances. This
new duty was set out in section 15 of the
Standards in Scotland's Schools Act 2000. The new
duty will take effect from August 2003.