A WIRRAL teenager is calling for people to support the fight against planned cuts to deaf children’s education.

The National Deaf Children’s Society wants the Department for Education urgently to step in and intervene to protect specialist services for deaf children.

They say local authorities across the country are slashing the vital services to save cash and are putting vulnerable people in danger.

But they need 63,000 more signatures on their petition to reach the 100,000 threshold so that the matter can be debated in Parliament.

And 15-year-old Bethany Eason, who was born deaf and wears a cochlear implant, is determined to raise awareness and halt any cuts.

The Bebington High student has a teaching assistant come in to school to support her twice a week and believes the cuts will have a devastating effect on deaf youngsters’ futures.

She said: “The help I get from my support assistant is vital to my learning as I am able to have one-to-one teaching and she makes sure certain aspects of my education are going right.

“She helps me with maths and ensures my teachers are using the right techniques so that I can understand what they’re saying, for example, they can’t have their back to me when talking because I need to lip read.

“If these cuts affect this area at all then I will really struggle to progress in life. I’m going into sixth form in September and if I don’t get the right support then I won’t get the grades I need to go on to university and achieve what I want to achieve.

"The way it is going, there is no future for deaf young people because of the cuts.

“I feel it is so important that all deaf young people get a voice and the Government takes note because at the end of the day we are the ones who know what it’s like and who are going to be affected, not them.

“We need as many people as possible to get behind the petition for our future.”

Wirral South Labour MP Alison McGovern is also urging Globe readers to sign the petition.

She said: “There are cuts to services coming from all directions now.

“That’s why this petition is incredibly important. A debate in Parliament is absolutely necessary in order to raise people’s awareness of this issue.

“Deaf people have as much ambition in life as the next person.

“It is vital that they receive the education and support they deserve to help them reach their goals.”

To sign the petition visit www.ndcs.org.uk/petition