Schools: Hearing Impaired
Children, Schools and Families
Written answers and statements, 29 October 2009
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green, Liberal Democrat)
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the level of compliance of schools with the acoustic requirements of deaf and hard of hearing pupils in classrooms; and if he will make a statement.
Diana Johnson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Children, Schools and Families; Kingston upon Hull North, Labour)
We are working closely with the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) who have collated information from local authorities on acoustic conditions in classrooms, to help ensure that the needs of children who are deaf or hard of hearing are met.
As a result of this work, acoustics testing will now be made a contractual requirement for all Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects in England. This means that no funding will be signed off for a BSF project without a commitment to having the £6,000 acoustic test. More information on our proposals can be found in the written ministerial statement of
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldhansrd/text/91019wms000l.htm#0910193000049
The Department does not assess schools' level of compliance with acoustic requirements of deaf and hard of hearing pupils centrally.