Our response to the Children and Young People’s Commissioner’s report on putting children’s rights at the heart of education
The Donaldson Trust warmly welcomes the recent intervention of the Children & Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYPCS) around school-age education provision in her far-reaching report:
“This is our lives, it matters a lot.” Putting children’s rights at the heart of education
International Treaties, such as UNCRC, are clear on the right to inclusive education; moreover, Scottish legislation is very clear, too, particularly on the Scottish Government’s own obligations in pursuit of these goals.
As well as giving a snapshot of the views of young people in education, this report offers an effective assessment of Scotland’s existing educational policy landscape and the areas in which changes can & should be made. The Commissioner’s report calls for:
- A broader definition of ‘Co-ordinated Support Plan’, CSP, such that young people with higher level support needs do not ‘fall through the cracks’
- A full analysis of the resources and infrastructure required to deliver an inclusive education system across Scotland, conducted by the Scottish Government.
Both of these measures would be transformative for Scottish education and we would endorse each of them; indeed, we have called for action in our own publications and responses in other areas addressed by the CYPCS, including:
- Fuller implementation of the Independent (’Hayward’) Review of Qualifications and Assessment and embrace of that ‘strengths-based’ curricula it envisages
- Involvement of young people in policy development in education authorities and their general involvement in decision-making at their school
- Adequate level of training for educators in how they can better support neurodivergent people, and how social-communicatory and sensory differences will impact on classroom learning
- A review of school building standards that centres neuro-inclusive design and construction practices.
