HAVING read that Blackburn with Darwen Council intends to integrate disabled children from special schools into mainstream education, I wonder whether it has gone into the full implications and possible outcome of its actions.
Has it looked at who would take responsibility for looking after the child during playtime, with regard to accidents or getting bullied?
Would schools select one teacher for this job and would the said teacher have the skills and knowledge to do the job properly?
Because if the day should come when a child got injured, would the parents sue the school or would the teacher in question take the blame for the accident?
As the father of a disabled son who was educated at a mainstream school I know of the pressures that were put on the teachers during his education.
It is some years since he finished his schooling, but the pressures that existed then are still there and possibly greater.
I would ask the council to look at every possibility that could go wrong for the disabled child before it makes a decision on the merits of integration, bearing in mind the extra responsibility needed for the welfare of these children.
B J BOOTH, Rockcliffe Street, Blackburn.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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