Nicola Killean: 'Children are being let down: radical reform to education' 'No child should have limited opportunities for future work, or to access further and higher education choices, simply because they didn’t receive the supportive education they should have.'
As part of The Herald's series on additional support needs, the Children and Young People's Commissioner for Scotland, Nicola Killean, why "radical reform" is required to ensure that the needs of all pupils can be met.
This year, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was incorporated into our law, changing children’s rights in Scotland by making UNCRC rights legally enforceable in some circumstances.
The UNCRC sets out the rights of all children, including their rights to education. Adopted internationally 35 years ago, it establishes the goals of education in inclusive terms. Children have the right to an education at all levels that develops their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential. The right to education is about all of that development, not only academic attainment.
Disabled children have the right not to be discriminated against, and to receive special care to support them to participate in all aspects of their lives. Both the UNCRC and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) reinforce that we need to consider children as rights-holders, with their own agency, rather than passive recipients of care, protection and........
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