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Disability Equality Scheme
Producing a school Disability Equality Scheme
The following dates were the deadlines for schools in England to
produce their Disability Equality Schemes:
- Secondary schools, 4 December 2006
- Primary schools, 3 December 2007
- Primary and secondary special schools, 3 December 2007
- Pupil referral units, 3 December 2007
The prime responsibility for making sure the duty is met lay
with school governing bodies. In practice, the headteacher and
senior staff, with support from staff, pupils, parents and carers
and members of the wider school community, all needed to play a
role to ensure the duty is met.
Reference to "disabled people" includes disabled children, young
people and adults, as pupils, employees, governors, parents and
carers and other members of the wider community that might use
school premises for leisure or other activities. The definition of
disability covers a broad spectrum of impairments including:
- cancer;
- multiple sclerosis;
- diabetes;
- hearing or sight impairments;
- epilepsy;
- mobility difficulties;
- HIV;
- people with mental health conditions or learning difficulties
or disabilities.
Schools make up the largest group of public bodies covered by
the duty and have a key role to play in promoting equality of
opportunity for disabled people, not only in their core function of
educating pupils but also in the employment opportunities they
offer and, increasingly, in the diverse range of services they
provide to the wider community.
There has been much improvement for disabled children but
figures for the education sector as a whole show that this remains
a significant challenge:
- 21 per cent of disabled people aged 16 to 24 years have no
qualifications whatsoever, compared with 9 per cent of non-disabled
people of the same age - a 12 per cent gap.
- Disabled 16 year-olds are twice as likely to be out of work,
education or training as their non-disabled peers (15 per cent
compared to 7 per cent).
Useful information to help schools to work towards meeting this
challenge
Please note that this includes two documents in Microsoft Word
format, which you may not be able to open, that are intended mainly
for staff in Medway schools.
Guidance for governors, headteachers, teaching and support
staff working in schools in England and Wales
School and the disability equality duty in England and Wales
(www.drc-gb.org/PDF/Schools_guidance_england_and_wales.pdf)
The Disability Equality Duty, the general duty and the specific
duty
Promoting
the disability equality duty and schemes in the schools (Word
47KB).
What a scheme must include
What needs to be in the Disability Equality Scheme (Word
35KB)
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