DRC calls for debate on NUT’s unwelcome proposals to turn the clock back on inclusion

17th May 2006

Responding to the NUT report ‘The Cost of Inclusion’ that suggests that inclusion policy harms children, Bert Massie, Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), said:

“The DRC agrees with the NUT that an education system which fails disadvantaged children is a failing education system.  What we cannot, and should not, do is point the finger of blame at one specific group of children and suggest that their removal from the equation will provide a cure all to a whole range of disparate pressures on schools.

“This research has gone way beyond looking at the issues of Special Educational Needs and has conflated then with a much wider range of issues experienced by children with any disadvantage. This is not just an attack on the principle of inclusion, but an attack on the principle of comprehensive education itself.

“Disabled people have fought hard to establish support for their full inclusion in society. There can be no turning back from this. We are seeing real improvement and achievement in the learning outcomes of many disabled children. We recognise there are challenges and the DRC will be inviting all the teaching unions and professional associations for a full and informed discussion about charting a sensible way forward.”