DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION

The exam boards revealed that deaf children will be forced to take part in tests requiring them to listen to and speak a foreign language because they cannot be treated differently from other disabled children. Exam chiefs admitted that the plan to scrap exemptions from the aural section of GCSEs and A-Levels in languages was 'unfortunate'. Campaigners warned that the move, which could see deaf pupils missing out on a quarter of the marks available, would cause thousands of children to desert language subjects.

"It is either that or the Monty Python approach of sitting a deaf children in a room and trying to make them hear something they can't," said Chris Underwood, head of communications at the National Deaf Children's Society. "I'm afraid that is the position some children will find themselves in. You would hope teachers would remove them from that position but the basic point is that deaf children should not lose marks. These rules are a ridiculous and farcical interpretation of the legislation. They go against both the letter and the spirit of the law."

As well as affecting subjects such as French, Spanish and German, deaf pupils also face having to undergo the speaking and listening component of English GCSE. Many children will not even have the option of dropping the subject since it is almost always compulsory. Under current arrangements, deaf pupils do not take aural tests and are instead given a grade calculated from marks from the rest of the exam. Their certificate states they were exempted from part of the assessment process due to a sensory impairment.

Exam boards plan to scrap these so-called 'indicated certificates' to meet the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. In a statement, they said the certificates were unfair to candidates with other types of disability who did not quality for exemptions. Discontinuing the certificates would mean scrapping exemptions to avoid misleading employers and universities. Some deaf pupils have used assistants in the past so they can lip-read during listening exams, but the boards are also planning to scrap these. There are also claims some blind children may be forced to go without special 'readers' who read out the questions to them.

A spokesman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which regulates exam boards, said, "QCA is committed to ensuring that no disabled candidate is discriminated against and that appropriate arrangements are in place to ensure maximum accesss to qualifications. We are taking legal advice at the highest level and are working with organisations representing disabled people to decide the best way forward." (Source: Mail on Sunday, Jun/06)