Ensuring rights matter: England’s and Scotland’s frameworks for implementing the rights of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities

Neville Harris*, Sheila Riddell

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In recent years, both international law (notably the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) and domestic legislation have led to a new emphasis on children’s rights in the field of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England and additional support needs (ASN) in Scotland. Scotland has moved ahead of England in extending these rights, but research has pointed to shortfalls in the practical realisation of the rights agenda in both jurisdictions. The Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in temporary school closures, has created further barriers to the realisation of children’s educational rights. The Scottish Government has developed a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment framework, and proposed new legislation incorporating the UNCRC into domestic legislation promised to generate further pressure for improvement in the delivery of rights. In England, there are less focused channels for influencing policy delivery. In the context of the domestic rights on SEND and ASN and the pandemic response, this paper provides a comparative assessment of the potential contribution of Children’s Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) to the protection of children’s rights, finding their potential not yet fully realised.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1671-1690
JournalThe International Journal of Human Rights
Volume26
Issue number9
Early online date31 Mar 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • rights
  • children
  • education
  • special needs
  • reform
  • impact assessment

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Ensuring rights matter: England’s and Scotland’s frameworks for implementing the rights of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this