"Blind and partially sighted learners start at an immediate disadvantage to their fully sighted peers."

We are taking forward the “Our Vision for Equal Education” campaign to highlight the need to provide blind and partially sighted young people with better opportunities in education and employment.

Eighty per cent of our learning is through our vision, so blind and partially sighted learners start at an immediate disadvantage to their fully sighted peers. There is also a growing number of children and young people with visual impairment in Scotland’s schools, but the most recent figures show there has been a fall in the number of specialist teachers in mainstream schools.  We are concerned that this is contributing to an attainment gap for visually impaired young people.

The Scottish Government’s Pupil Census for 2018 shows there were 4,574 pupils with visual impairment. This is more than double the number recorded in the Pupil Census in 2010, which showed in that year there were 2,005 pupils with visual impairment, and yet there have actually been reductions in specialist support.

The Education and Skills Committee held a parliamentary exhibition to highlight the campaign in the Scottish Parliament.

Following this, the Education and Skills Committee visited the Royal Blind School and wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Education to highlight concerns over lack of resources for additional support needs provision.

To learn more, download the report: "Our Vision for Equal Education".

Scottish Braille Press close up photo of a person reading braille

Download the Vision For Equal Education Report

 

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Royal Blind Vision For Equal Education Report

All our reports:

Sight Scotland: Our Future Direction

Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans Strategy 2021

Royal Blind Emotional Support for Sight Loss report

Royal Blind Emotional Support for Sight Loss report.

Vision For Equal Education Report

Royal Blind's Vision for Equal Education report identifies four key actions for government and education authorities.

Social Connections and Sight Loss Report

Research by Royal Blind and Scottish War Blinded into links between vision impairment and loneliness.