(Australia) WA Ed Minister: 'We have more children with complex needs'
- 17 hours ago
- 2 min read
An increase in the number of students with disabilities has prompted a $16 million [$11.5M U.S.] investment in training.
Graduate teachers and special needs education assistants will receive mandatory training on top of the courses available to all teachers.
A group of parents of children with disabilities says that while any focus on training is good, there is an urgent need for laws to change, too.
WA teachers will be taught how to better support children with higher needs amid rising rates of disability diagnoses, after a report found public schools needed to do more.
The state government has committed $16 million over the next four years for a professional learning hub that will include mandatory inductions for special needs education assistants and disability modules for graduate teachers.
"We have more children with complex needs," Education Minister Sabine Winton told the ABC.
"We know that more children are in the system with a diagnosis of disability.
"What I can do as the minister is make sure we've got a workforce that's supported, that has got the expertise and the skills to meet the changing environment."
Ocean Reef Senior High School principal James Kent said about one in five students at his school had specific needs — a figure he said had "soared" across the system over the past decade.
"Best practice changes on a daily basis," Dr Kent said.
"Having a hub where all of the resources are quality assured about being best practice makes it then far easier for the school and the individual teacher to access the professional learning they need."
'Practical' supports falls short
The focus on "practical" supports falls short of what experts and advocates in disability education have been calling for, and which a review of the laws governing public education released last year recommended.
WA is the only state in the nation with a provision that allows a principal to deny enrolment to a student if a school does not have an "appropriate educational program", which the review found could be "a barrier for students with disability to enrol at their local school".
It called for the creation of a "universal right to enrol" supported by "increased funding, enhanced teacher training, upgraded infrastructure" and better policies. . . .
Comments