Special Needs Jungle Petition
There are strong rumours that the Government is planning to impose drastic restrictions on the provision of specialist educational support for children and young people – or indeed – scrapping Education Health and Care (EHC Plans) plans entirely.
The overwhelming reason for the increase applications for such support would appear to be the ‘non-inclusive’ nature of many schools: schools chasing targets; schools starved of funding; schools all too often perceived as hostile environments by children. The rise in applications for EHC Plans is a symptom of a seriously dysfunctional education system.
The solution to this problem is not to blame parents and their children, and it is not to condemn them for seeking specialist diagnoses and assessments – which the system requires before meaningful support can be provided. The solution is a kinder, more inclusive system. For this to happen politicians will have to ‘listen’ to families, and – just for once – try to understand a little more and condemn a great deal less.
As ever, the excellent Special Needs Jungle (SNJ) is leading on the campaign to challenge any cuts to EHC Plans – prior to meaningful progress being made to make our education system more inclusive.
To access the SNJ Petition, click here.
Posted 23 May 2025