Page 3554 - Week 12 - Thursday, 20 September 1990
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The need for some special schools, of course, cannot be denied and these will be continued. The Government school system currently provides placement options for intellectually disabled children in schools - placement of children with Down's syndrome, for example. There are currently three children with Down's syndrome in mainstream classes and seven children in special classes in mainstream schools, in addition to children placed in special schools.
In placing a student with special needs, officers consider the interests of the student, the interests of other students in the school and, of course, the system's overall capacity to bear that placement.
The ministry's revised draft policy for services to students with special needs was recently released, and I hope members will take the opportunity to comment on it. It is a green paper. The ministry has invited written comments on the document by the close of business on 12 October 1990. Parents of students with special needs are encouraged to take part in that process. I want to remind the members, though, that every effort is made to accommodate parents' wishes, although these must be balanced by the professional views of the educational needs of the student. The ultimate responsibility for deciding on a recommendation for placement of a student with special needs in a mainstream school does lie with ministry officers.
Preschools
MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, my question is also directed to the Minister for Education. I must say, Minister, I note your department's distribution of these so-called facts sheets on preschool collocation and clusters, which of course are much more about propaganda than facts, because they present arguments, and arguments are not facts.
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Moore! Is this a question?
MR MOORE: Can the Minister offer an accurate financial schedule of how much it will cost in refurbishment for each of the six preschools destined for closure to be collocated with primary schools - because collocation really is closure? Bearing in mind the quite specific needs in capital works required by preschools, can the Minister indicate from where the funding will be drawn to accommodate those costs?
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, once again Mr Moore is attempting to have the Government announce decisions which have not yet been made. It is true that the decision has been made to close a certain number of preschools as part of a cooperative approach to this issue with the Canberra Pre-School Society and with users of preschools. That, as I have indicated, does entail the closure of at least six
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