Achi news desk-
The number of students with additional support needs (ASNs) has increased over the years for multiple reasons, each with a separate set of implications.
First, experts have said that reporting is improving regularly. This suggests that schools are better at identifying students’ needs and ensuring that they are recorded and reflected in the national data.
But if the numbers are constantly increasing every year just because we are bringing more children with ASN into the system, then that suggests that every year children are going without support. And based on the numbers available through the census data, that would mean that thousands of children attend school every year who need extra help but are not getting it.
The alternative is not much better. If the growth of ASN is the result of a real increase in learning difficulties, physical and emotional disorders, and other difficulties among young children, then there is a much deeper social issue at play.
Read more: Have Scottish schools learned to accept autistic pupils?
It may seem impossible for students with additional needs to fly under the radar at school, but the wide range of reasons for ASN show otherwise.
Of the 23 recognized ASN categories, some are better known than others. Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), dyslexia, and audio-visual impairments are easily recognizable – even if not always easy to diagnose – as reasons for needing additional support.
Other categories appear less obvious, but the data proves that they are no less significant. The number of students receiving extra support for disruptive learning, family problems, substance misuse and young carers have all almost doubled since 2013.
Each of these categories includes a wide range of needs caused by an even more comprehensive range of contributing factors.
But they all contribute to a growing debate over the best way to support ASN pupils. During a recent inquiry by the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Children’s Services Committee, sector leaders and politicians asked questions about Scotland’s assumption of mainstreaming for ASN pupils.
According to this policy, ASN pupils should only attend special schools in exceptional circumstances. Otherwise, they should be supported in mainstream schools. However, there are growing concerns that mainstream schools are not adequately meeting the needs of these young people.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth renewed support for the government’s mainstreaming policy, calling it “the right way” to give all pupils a fair chance. But even as she spoke in favor of the concept, she added that schools needed to significantly improve their accommodation for students with ASN.
Read more: ‘I still believe in mainstreaming’: Jenny Gilruth on schools’ extra support needs
Underfunding is only part of the issue; there are concerns that school buildings cannot support ASN pupils. Depending on the range of a child’s needs, they may be too high, large, crowded, empty, or inaccessible.
In many cases, it is up to more than the school system to address these issues. As Ms Gilruth also said in her comments to the Holyrood hearings on additional support for learning, supporting ASN pupils takes a holistic approach.
Solutions will need to come from outside the “silo” of education spending. But money is generally tight. In previous years, when major cuts were discussed at council meetings, there were often sudden deadlocks at the eleventh hour.
That doesn’t seem likely this year. Councils struggle to balance budgets without the ability to raise taxes. Local authorities in England have gone out of business, and there are similar concerns in Scotland.
As a leading councilor in Glasgow told The Herald when asked about sweeping plans to cut teacher numbers in the city, “There was no other way to cut it this year.”
It may be up to the school staff to find ways to support ASN pupils by doing more with less. But as one autistic student poignantly told the Herald, school is not always a safe haven, even with full support.
