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£10million to train 4,000 teachers for dyslexic pupils
Tim Ross22.06.09
CHILDREN with dyslexia will receive extra help at school in a drive to train 4,000 specialist teachers, ministers announced today.
All teachers need extra training in how to adjust their lessons to help children who struggle to read and write, according to a government review.
One expert dyslexia teacher should be available for every local group of five schools, the report from the Government's literacy expert Sir Jim Rose said.
Schools Secretary Ed Balls accepted all Sir Jim's recommendations and promised to spend £10 million to train 4,000 specialist teachers over the next two years and provide better advice to parents on where to get help.
Mr Balls said: "No child should be held back by a special educational need. I have met many parents who have struggled to get the right support for their children. I am personally very committed to improving this support and making it more easily accessible to all children and parents who need it."
Reader views (5)
D, The point was that every parent seems to be desperate to find a "label" to excuse the lack of educational or other achievement of their children. Dyslexia, ADD, autism, poverty, discrimination etc etc. It seems to me that an industry has developed to cater to the fact that some people just aren't that bright. Your comments just highlight that you think they are "special" in a good way. Sorry, they're not. If they are so highly innovative and intelligent, why do they need additional taxpayers money? The Dyslexia Association description of symptoms begs to differ with your characterisation.
- Jon, london
Jon
I sincerely hope you are joking with your stupid comment. If you knew anything about dyslexia it isn't all about getting letters round the wrong way. It's much more complex than that. Actually dyslexic people are often highly innovative and intelligent. Talents to which people who make comments like yours with half a brain cell and full of ignorance can only aspire to.
- D, London
dysslexia si a mthy
- Jon, london
Please tell me how one specialist teacher for a local group of 5 schools can help? That could be one teacher for 70 classes? 1 teacher for 2,100 children? I have read that teachers are to be encouraged to do on-line courses to learn how to recognise the problem and to learn how to teach children with dyslexia. It should be a compulsory part of their training. I have a highly intelligent son, who was failed miserably by the state system for 2 years, so I now send him to a private school where they recognised his dyslexia immediately. Quite frankly, its a start, but for Ed Balls to say that no child should be held back by a special educational need, is laughable. Nothing was done for my son, and the emotional damage it caused was unberable to watch. I now know several older children, who the state system has totally failed, and these proposals, seem to me, to be the absolute minimum that schools should be doing. Most of these children are highly intelligent. Such a waste, and worst of all, so damaging to their emotional well being. Ruth Kelly pulled her child out of state education, to educate her in a specialist dyslexic school. Bet she would still feel the need to do the same now. Not good enough. Just a token gesture.
- Anon, Chelmsford, Essex
Strange how conditions like this and AHSD seem to have increased massively since parents stopped parenting and dumped their children in nurseries! I am also convinced that many of the educational issues with young boys are because they have no role models at school. It is now extremely rare for for primary schools to have a male teacher! Perhaps these issues should be looked at instead of endlessly labelling children?
- Man U Fan, London
