Page 5308 - Week 12 - Thursday, 28 October 2010
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website. If English is not your first language you can go to another site. If you are deaf and hearing impaired, “Please telephone.” On one hand the government is saying, “We’re going to cut services for the deaf and hearing impaired. We’re not going to give them the assistance that they deserve to be fully functioning members of our community. But then we’ll provide a service so that, if you are deaf or hearing impaired, you can ring so we can give you some assistance later in life.” It is illogical in the extreme, and I think it discriminates against those people as well.
It is interesting, because the minister’s excellence in disability education document talks in the introduction about principles of excellence, accountability and fairness. It says:
… and encourages meaningful, regular communication with all stakeholders, particularly parents.
Unless, of course, you are the parent of a child with a hearing or seeing disability, when the minister will not talk to you at all. He will make announcements; he will duck and run like the coward that he is; he will not stand up to scrutiny; he will not answer the questions. But then he has the absolute gall to produce a document that says that excellence results from a responsive system that supports professional learning and encourages meaningful, regular communication with all stakeholders, particularly parents—unless, of course, those parents have a different view to his.
This document is so discredited by the behaviour of this minister, and his words must be such an embarrassment to this government that it really calls into account his ability to manage his portfolio. Page 3 of the document says that everyone matters when it comes to excellence in disability education—“but I just won’t talk to you”. It says there are a number of key planks, one of which is building partnerships with families at the school level, at the system level—unless, of course, you disagree with the minister. “When there is uncertainty, I won’t meet with you. When I can’t answer your questions I won’t meet with you. When you hold me to account, I won’t meet with you. When the media want to ask me questions, I won’t meet with you.”
We have got a strategic plan that is absolutely worthless. It is about as worth while as the leadership of this minister on these matters—absolutely worthless. That this fiasco has unfolded raises a number of serious questions about the processes that have been followed by the minister, the role of the minister, the priorities in the department, how information that is critical for the community is promulgated and, indeed, how this government makes decisions.
There is particular concern about the processes that have been followed in this matter. Where was the minister when questions were to be answered? He was nowhere to be seen. He lets the department promulgate the bad news and then answer the questions. This is simply a fair-weather minister with no intestinal fortitude to face the community and argue issues, especially when those issues are contentious.
What do we know about this government’s approach to managing teachers who work with students who have a disability? We know that most ACT government departments and agencies have had to cope with an inappropriately called efficiency
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