Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner has pledged his support to children and young people with a vision impairment through Guide Dogs’ “All Things Equal” campaign.

In Parliament, Mr Zeichner met children, young people, and their families to talk about the challenges they face in the education system, after research conducted for Guide Dogs found that 69% of teachers lack confidence that they have the right skills to support disabled children, including those with a vision impairment. Children with sight loss perform significantly behind their peers in terms of academic attainment.

Mr Zeichner is supporting Guide Dogs’ campaign for greater recognition of vision impairment throughout the Special Educational Needs ands Disability (SEN) system, calling for the critical role of specialist professionals to be prioritised and for more early stage support to be given to prevent young people with sight loss from falling behind.

Mr Zeichner said: “It was great to meet with Guide Dogs and support their campaign. It is vital that no child with a disability such as sight loss falls behind. Guide Dogs research has shown why this is so important – just one in four working age adults with a vision impairment are in employment. That is why early stage support is crucial. The Government must make all things equal for children with vision impairments.”