Disabled teachers increasingly facing discrimination

More than two-thirds (70 per cent) of disabled teachers have been discriminated against, isolated or excluded at work because of their disability.

The finding came as disabled teachers gathered in Birmingham for the NASUWT’s annual Disabled Teachers’ Consultation Conference to discuss the challenges facing them as disabled teachers and to engage in professional development workshops.

Delegates raised serious concerns about the lack of support for disabled teachers in the workplace, including a lack of access to reasonable adjustments and discriminatory attitudes from employers and colleagues in schools.

A real-time electronic poll of participants also found that more than half (58 per cent) of disabled teachers say they have witnessed or have been the victim of a hate crime in the last 12 months.

The results also show that more than two-thirds (69 per cent) said their job had made the symptoms of their condition worse in the last 12 months.

Seventy-five per cent of members felt that teachers with ‘invisible’ conditions were more likely to face discrimination in the workplace than those with visible impairments.

Nearly one in five (19 per cent) of disabled teachers said excessive workload was their main concern with regards to their job and 22 per cent said the pressures of the job and workload were most likely to have the greatest bearing on whether or not they would be working as a teacher in five years’ time.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “No teacher should be forced to hide their disabilities or struggle without the reasonable adjustments they need to be able to do their jobs.”