News
Disability Discrimination Commissioner urges Qld to scrap plans to build more segregated schools.
Australia’s Disability Discrimination Commissioner has called on the Queensland Government to honour its commitment to the development of a National Roadmap for Inclusive Education following its decision to fund 6 new segregated schools.
The National Roadmap for Inclusive Education, a key principle of which is to provide equal access to mainstream education, seeks to facilitate a process of reform to ensure an equitable and participatory experience and environment for all students.
The Queensland Government says the new segregated schools will ensure students with higher support needs receive the specialised teaching and learning required for them to thrive.
However, Disability Discrimination Commissioner Rosemary Kayess says the decision is a big step backwards for the education sector and students with disability.
It is deeply concerning that the Queensland Government is blatantly ignoring all the evidence and expert advice in relation to the significant benefits of inclusive education for people with disability
Rosemary Kayess
According to the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO), 9 in 10 school-age children with disability attend school, with some going on to study at university. However, many face challenges engaging in education. This is reflected in the overall lower levels of educational attainment for people with disability, according to AFDO.
AFDO also states that 26% of students with severe or profound disability attend a segregated special school, compared with the 53% who attend regular classes and the 23% who attend special classes within mainstream schools.
The Disability Discrimination Commissioner argues the funding commitment to build these segregated schools goes directly against the Queensland Government’s commitment to inclusive education, the principles of the National Roadmap for Inclusive Education and a key recommendation of the recent Disability Royal Commission.
“Rather than embracing a brighter future for all Queenslanders, the Queensland Government is locking the state into a failed ableist model of the past which penalises people with disability,” she claims.
Ms Kayess went on to stress the lifelong impact segregated education has on students with disability.
“If we want a society where everyone is included and where everyone feels they belong, then we need to be phasing out ‘special schools’, not building more of them,” she says.
The Disability Discrimination Commissioner says she has written to the Queensland Premier as well as the Queensland Education Minister and is awaiting a response.