Scottish pupils ‘missing out on accessible textbooks’

By Elizabeth Choppin

Blind and partially-sighted schoolchildren in Scotland are struggling to secure accessible textbooks and curriculum materials at the same rate as their non-disabled peers, according to campaigners.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) Scotland launched a campaign this week to highlight that “very few” books, study guides or past exam papers are transcribed into accessible formats for blind or partially-sighted students.

Concerns have been raised that these students are put at a disadvantage because accessible materials are often provided “days or even weeks” later than they are for other children.

The campaign calls for a national education transcription service for curriculum materials, which would ensure consistent standards of transcriptions and cut down on extra work for teachers.

An RNIB Scotland spokesman said he welcomed the Scottish government’s commitment to providing accessible materials to students with extra support needs, which came about after a debate in the Scottish Parliament in April.

He said: “That’s great, but how do we get there? A national service is one way of doing it, an efficient way. Teachers are overwhelmed. We need a body that will look at the curriculum in advance, get the materials transcribed ahead of time and liaise with education publishers.”

A Scottish government spokeswoman said it was piloting an accessible curriculum database to help teachers share materials. The database is likely to be rolled out to all Scottish schools in August.

She said: “There is no evidence from parents, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education or local authorities to suggest that pupils with visual impairments are not getting access to adapted curriculum materials. A recent study, Books for All, by the national Communication Aids for Language and Learning (CALL) Centre at the University of Edinburgh reported that pupils with visual impairment in Scotland are already very well catered for.”

But Grant Marshall, chair of the Haggeye youth forum, which unveiled a giant poster at the launch, said: “Some of our own members have personal experience of receiving educational material that was either delayed or in a format that wasn’t accessible, and it is an issue that we will be campaigning on ourselves as a forum.”

Research from RNIB UK, published in 2006, showed that only two of 111 Scottish curriculum textbooks were available in Braille and none in large print.

RNIB Scotland has commissioned research on how blind or partially-sighted students fare in exams.