Disabled children could be removed from mainstream schools and educated in segregated establishments for children with special needs under a Tory government. The Conservatives have started a review of ‘inclusive’ education, which encourages the teaching of disabled pupils alongside their able-bodied peers in a move that will prove controversial among disability groups which have campaigned for years for the right to access mainstream schools. The review, announced by Paul Goodman, the party’s spokesman on disability, will examine whether disabled pupils would receive more attention in schools for children with physical and learning disabilities. A Conservative consultation document published this week asked: ‘Is the Government’s policy of inclusive education for disabled children working or are disabled children being physically included but educationally excluded?’
The Independent, August 6, 2004.

The Tories are calling for disabled children to be educated in separate schools. They say it’s because schools aren’t always accessible and because disabled kids are often bullied. But a policy of keeping disabled children away from other kids is exactly the wrong way to protect them. The kind of segregation is reminiscent of the old days when disabled people were shunted off to institutions. Nor is there any excuse for schools not being accessible to disabled children. The Disability Discrimination Act brought in by this Government means they will have to have made reasonable adjustments to their buildings by 2005. That way it can be up to families to decide what’s best for their child.
Daily Mirror, August 7, 2004.

Campaigners battling to save a Dorset special school could be thrown a lifeline. Penwithen School near Dorchester is facing closure from September next year after members of Dorset County Council’s education overview and policy development committee agreed to recommend the move to the council’s cabinet. The proposal has been put forward as part of the council’s policy which aims to educate children as near to home as possible. The plan also meets the Government’s policy on inclusive education which integrates children with disabilities and learning difficulties into mainstream schools. If the proposal is backed by the council’s cabinet next month it means in the future children with emotional and behavioural difficulties who would at the moment attend Penwithen School would be integrated into mainstream schools where possible. But now Conservatives say they may reverse the policy, saying they want to ensure disabled children are not suffering educationally.
Dorset Echo, August 9, 2004.

Disability groups have reacted with dismay to a Conservative party announcement that it will undertake a review of inclusive education. The move follows complaints by some parents who say their disabled children are struggling in mainstream schools. The review will consider whether pupils with disabilities would receive more attention in specialist schools. The findings could lead to children with disabilities being removed from mainstream schools if the Conservatives came to power next year. Disability groups were quick to condemn the possibility of a return to segregated schooling, arguing that what parents want is choice.
Care and Health, August 17, 2004.