SCHOOLS DON'T JUST NEED TO LOOK GOOD, THEY NEED TO SOUND GOOD TOO - STUNELL

11.40.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 15th Jun 2009

Local MP Andrew Stunell has joined forces with the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) at an event this week in Westminster to call for schools to "sound good as well as look good".

In a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request from the NDCS, only one in five local authorities in England stated that new schools in their area were built with acoustics that met the Government's building standards. Worse still, only two-fifths of all local authorities aren't even monitoring whether new schools comply with the standards.

At the event, Andrew met a group of deaf teenagers to discuss the detrimental effect poor acoustics in the classroom can have on their education, and to offer backing for their campaign. Mr Stunell has written to Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, and to Stockport Council, backing the call from the NDCS for the Government to urgently introduce a mandatory test for all new school buildings to ensure they comply with government standards.

Commenting, Andrew Stunell said:

"How can it be right to place a child in a classroom in which they cannot learn? Everyone should have an equal right to a first-class education - whether their hearing is impaired or not. I'm fully behind fully the NDCS Sounds Good? Campaign.

"The government, and local authorities, have a responsibility to ensure that schools are good environments for studying rather than spending millions of pounds on new school buildings that are unsuitable for children to both listen and learn in.

"The majority of deaf children now go to a mainstream school, so schools don't just need to look good, they need to sound good as well.

"The government and local authorities must ensure that when new schools are built, they keep to the rules"

Kevin McCloud, presenter of Channel 4's Grand Designs, who is also supporting the Sounds Good campaign said:

"Even though we are embarking on the biggest schools building programme in history, the design of British schools continues to be patchy and people with disabilities continue to suffer.

"Improving the acoustics of teaching spaces is a precise science, but the technologies exist, and the knowledge is there. We now just need the political will to enforce it, and I hope this campaign succeeds in putting the issue on the agenda."

ENDS