David Sassoon reports on the need to ensure disabled students have full access to mainstream education

NEW laws on educating pupils with disabilities have serious implications for governing bodies.

Last month, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 took effect in schools, incorporating parts of earlier disability discrimination legislation. It requires every governing body of a maintained school to have an “accessibility plan” in place by April 30, 2003.

This plan has to go beyond simply making the school accessible to pupils with disabilities. The governing body has to ensure education as a whole is made available to disabled children.

Governors’ policies also have to complement local education authorities’

own accessibility plans. These will address:

* improvements to access of the curriculum;

* physical improvements to increase access to education and associated services;

* improvements in the provision of information in a range of formats for disabled pupils.

When drawing up the plan, governors should weave in requirements arising from the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which makes it unlawful to discriminate against a disabled child in relation to admissions (a governor responsibility in aided or foundation schools), education and associated services, and exclusions.

The governing body must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled pupils (or prospective pupils) are not placed at a substantial disadvantage when compared to those who are not disabled.

No disabled pupil should be subjected to inconvenience, indignity or discomfort or lose educational opportunities. A secondary school with a number or disabled pupils, for instance, may need to negotiate special arrangements for them when they take public examinations.

The governing body’s provisional brief for disabled pupils must be comprehensive and include preparation for entry to school, access, the curriculum, teaching and learning, classroom organisation, time-tabling, homework, sports, extra-curricular activities, trips, assessment, exams, discipline and exclusions.

Governors must also make provision for disabled children, even though their school may not have any. This is an anticipatory duty. Policies and practices should be continually reviewed.

For example, the behaviour policy could be reviewed to address bullying linked to disability. Physical education lessons may need to be adjusted and staff trained to cater for a prospective wheelchair-bound child, so that he or she can participate. For instance, the teacher can engage in ball work with pupils sitting in circles.

Where a school is planning a visit to an outdoor centre, provision should be made, if necessary, to ensure that there are facilities for physically disabled pupils. Other staff could be trained to administer medicine to pupils so that a blanket policy of not permitting any teacher to dole out medicines, such as insulin to pupils with diabetes, can be replaced.

A code of practice issued earlier this year by the Disability Rights Commission cited the theoretical example of a pupil with asthma whose condition deteriorates in literacy and numeracy sessions. After an investigation, the school discovers she is sitting near a blackboard and the chalk dust exacerbates her asthma.

Accordingly, the school replaces the blackboard with a whiteboard, making chalk unnecessary.

Governors will not be required to make unreasonable adjustments to provide auxiliary aid and services and remove or alter physical features. Costs, in certain cases, may be prohibitive. For example, a school built on a slope may find it impossible to make the premises accessible for a child in a wheelchair without considerable expense.

In the case of a pupil with a statement of special educational needs, the LEA should be providing additional resources. However, the governing body should give careful thought to every challenge and make strenuous efforts to include disabled pupils fully in the life of the school, before determining that something is not possible.

In the case of a voluntary-aided, voluntary-controlled or foundation school, governors must secure an admissions policy that treats disabled pupils at least as favourably as the rest.

A school that refuses admission to a pupil because his epilepsy cannot be handled by staff is likely to be guilty of unfair discrimination. The governing body must ensure staff are trained to handle that condition.

The special education needs and disability tribunal (SENDIST) will hear most claims of unlawful discrimination in admissions, exclusions and in education and associated services. It has the power to order any remedy it thinks reasonable, with the exception of financial compensation.

Remedies could range from disability training and guidance on combating disability discrimination for staff, to policy reviews, or formal apologies for children discriminated against.

If governors start thinking about a draft policy now, they will have plenty of time to consult staff, pupils, parents and the LEA so that by April 2003 their school can be truly inclusive of disabled pupils.

See www.drc-gb.org for more information.