HC Deb 20 July 1971 vol 821 cc266-70W
Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children are in schools for the deaf.

Mrs. Thatcher

4,976, including partially hearing children in special schools for the deaf and partially hearing. 1,615 of these children had partial hearing.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if she will institute a special inquiry into the educational standards of children who are deaf but not otherwise handicapped;

(2) if she will devise standardised tests for use in deaf schools; if she will request her Inspectors to make regular surveys of the attainment of deaf children in basic subjects; and if she will publish the surveys.

Mrs. Thatcher

I do not think it necessary to institute a special inquiry into the educational standards of deaf children; nor do I consider that standardised tests for these children would have much value as the range of hearing and other disabilities in schools for the deaf is so wide. During their visits to schools H.M. Inspectorate pay regular attention to standards of attainment reached by pupils in all aspects of the curriculum, but it is not part of their duties to conduct regular surveys of attainments.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how frequently schools for the deaf are visited by Her Majesty's Inspectors; and on what criteria the efficiency of these schools is assessed.

Mrs. Thatcher

The aim is to visit each school at least once a year. All aspects of the efficiency of the schools are considered.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will take steps to discover the proportion of deaf school leavers who go on to some form of higher education.

Mrs. Thatcher

The main avenue of entry into higher education for the deaf is the Mary Hare Grammar School for the Deaf. Information already available is that about 4 per cent. of the pupils who enter the academic course there enter degree courses.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will list the further education establishments that are intended specifically for the deaf school leaver, giving the dates when they were opened and the number of deaf people they cater for.

Mrs. Thatcher

(1) The Sir James E. Jones School of Vocational Training in Manchester, a department of the Royal School for the Deaf, Cheadle Hulme, opened in 1906, 20 boys;

(2) Brixton College of Further Education, which has held courses since 1963 for about 40 full and part-time students;

(3) The City Literary Institute's Department for Further Education of the Deaf which opened in the mid-1950's, and provides for about 150 part-time students.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many children under the age of five years have been diagnosed as deaf; how many are in nursery schools; and how many are on waiting lists;

(2) what steps she has taken to reduce the length of time between the diagnosis of deafness in children and the provision of special education for them.

Mrs. Thatcher

On 1st January, 1971, 428 children under the age of five had been assessed as deaf. Of these, 358 were in schools for the deaf and 70 were awaiting places. The waiting period is not unduly long and meantime, guidance and support are provided for parents in most areas by peripatetic teachers of the deaf.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will estimate the shortage of teachers qualified to teach the deaf; and what steps she is taking to remedy it.

Mrs. Thatcher

The number of teachers annually obtaining the special qualification for teaching the deaf and partially hearing has risen since 1967 by nearly 50 per cent. Since 1968 the number of places in the two training courses provided by university departments has been increased. In 1969 a new course was set up in a college of education : this will produce about 30 additional teachers a year. It is estimated that at present an additional 360 teachers would be required to ensure that all teachers in schools for the deaf and partially hearing, in partially hearing units and in the peripatetic services hold a qualification to teach the deaf.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many requests have been made for information as to the names of schools for the deaf in which manual communication is used for educational purposes; and what replies were sent;

(2) if she will list the schools which use manual communication for educational purposes.

Mrs. Thatcher

I have not received any requests. I understand that the following schools use finger spelling with some older children : Northern Counties School for the Deaf, Newcastle; the Royal School for Deaf Children, Margate; and the Yorkshire Residential School for the Deaf. Ackman School, London, and Larchmoor School, Stoke Poges, use the Paget System. One-handed finger spelling is used in the nursery department at Stoneleigh School, Leicester.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what action has now been taken to implement the recommendations made by the Lewis Committee in 1968; and what research projects have been recommended by the Advisory Committee on the Handicapped Child;

(2) whether she intends to institute a research project similar to that done by Professor Quigley in the United States of America, details of which are in her possession, into the desirability of combining manual communication with oralism in the education of deaf children.

Mrs. Thatcher

The main recommendations of the Lewis report were for further research to determine whether, and in what circumstances, the introduction of manual media of communication would lead to improvement in the education of deaf children. My Advisory Committee has recommended, and I have accepted, that support should be given for an experiment in the use of finger-spelling in the education of deaf children, and we are now considering the best way to set up a research project. All relevant experience including the research referred to by the hon. Member, will be drawn upon.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she now intends to send a representative to investigate methods used in Russia for the education of deaf children.

Mrs. Thatcher

Yes.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when she intends to publish the results of a recent survey into the ability of deaf school leavers to communicate by speech and lip reading.

Mrs. Thatcher

I hope at the end of this year.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will request local education authorities to make some form of inter-local education authority provision involving manual communication for the significant minority of deaf children who do not develop the ability to lip read.

Mrs. Thatcher

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to his Question on 14th December, 1970, which explains my reasons for not adopting this suggestion.—[Vol. 808, c. 265.]

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many training courses for teachers of the deaf now provide instruction in manual communication.

Mrs. Thatcher

None.