Page 1541 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 April 2011
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The government’s response has simply been, “We’ll provide you some information through the budget process.” As we know, the budget papers have a certain level of detail but they do not contain this level of detail. So although it has been noted, I do believe that this is an area that needs further work.
Recommendation 18, again, corresponds with the SCAN process, as does 19. Recommendation 19 talks about the need for inclusive technologies to be assessed at the same time that the SCAN process is done. Recommendation 18 was about reviewing the SCAN process and establishing a mechanism to ensure that the funding approach to the allocation of resources to students will be focused towards maximising learning outcomes.
What I find interesting with a number of these recommendations that relate to SCAN and the government’s response is that they very much seem to be going back to Excellence in disability education in ACT public schools. This is the guiding strategic document. A number of government responses have laid their hat, if you like, on a couple of these priority areas. In relation to SCAN, a number of these are around priority 2 of that action plan. Priority 2 outlines aligning the SCAN and the ILP processes. I am not getting a sense of timing about when strategic priority 2 will be implemented. It would be good to hear from the minister how that is going and where some of that implementation of strategic priority 2 is up to. Is it on its way? Are we waiting for budget allocations? What sort of work has been done in that area?
Another one was around information, and this is another thing that parents really were crying out for. Where is the information? Where is the one place we can go to get all the information about the programs that provide our students with support? I am pleased to see, again, that it refers to strategic priority 3, and a pulling together of a resource guide that will contain all of those programs that are available for parents to apply to—those resources, funds and so forth.
That is incredibly important. As a parent, when you have a child going to school, you want to do the right thing. As a parent of a child with disabilities, particularly when it presents some great complexity, there is extra stress and pressure. Of course, you are going to be your child’s best advocate. We want to support those parents to be their child’s best advocate, and that is why it is important that we do have one place where they can go to access this guide, to find out about these resources, programs and so forth.
I hope that this guide will be available soon, if it is not already. Again, the minister may give us an update. I hope that we do not do a guide and then leave it, but that there is someone and resources allocated to ensure that that guide is kept up to date, because we know that children with disabilities will continue to enter our education system.
Again, I will be very interested to hear from the minister about how all of this is going. I know that there are a lot of dedicated people in the education department—teachers across the system, and of course assistants, aides and so forth, who are doing their best to support children with disabilities to pursue an education.
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