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WOMEN are disproportionately affected by the societal barriers faced by children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the TUC Women’s Conference heard today.
On the conference’s last day, which fell on International Women’s Day, the National Education Union (NEU) said it was becoming increasingly difficult for children and young people with SEND to access the support they need.
The NEU condemned government cuts to education and local authority funding for putting families under greater pressure.
A SEND child is more likely to have time off school due to illness than their non-SEND classmates, and supporting such a child also requires attendance at additional meetings, the NEU said.
Further pressures arise when appropriate school places are not available for SEND children who have additional needs, forcing parents – usually mothers – to give up their paid work.
This harms the economic wellbeing of their families and limits individuals’ career prospects, the NEU said.
The union’s Emma Parker told the conference that the SEND community was in crisis.
She said: “Over the past couple of months, we have seen national demonstrations by teachers and parents because our most vulnerable children are being let down.”
Children with SEND are six times more likely to be excluded from school, and Ms Parker said there was a hidden crisis across homes in Britain.
“I am a teacher and a mother of five,” she said. “My eldest is 12 and has not been in school consistently for over five years after being excluded under a zero-tolerance policy.
“Teaching is my passion. But like many parents with SEND children, my life is complicated.
“Mothers should not have to decide between caring for their children or providing for their family.”
The government must fund school and local authority provision properly to enable every child and young person to achieve their full potential, the conference urged.
Unions vowed to campaign for the right to flexible working for all carers of disabled children as well as to survey the full effects of the SEND crisis on women.
