Page 3121 - Week 07 - Thursday, 30 June 2011
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issue of responsibility surrounds services for students in special needs education. On that note I wish to read into Hansard some comments from Lee Hillier, a year 12 work experience student I had work in my office this week.
Lee came to the Assembly two years ago for similar work experience and he is known to many of you. He is the eldest of two sons in the Hillier family. His younger brother has a number of special needs and attends Woden school. He started there as a year 7 student this year, transferring from Malkara, where he had been very happy.
His introduction to high school has been anything but pleasant and this young man’s thoughts about what his brother has endured are very telling. This young man is not a politician, although in time I hope he will become one. His story highlights the lack of responsibility and cooperation between the departments of health and education and the apparent lack of desire to find a solution. He says:
It is the right of special needs students and their families to expect that the education system in normal circumstances will aim to ensure that their needs and safety are met to an adequate level.
Why should the education system for special needs students differ in its standards depending on which part of the city you live in. However, in the current situation, Canberra is divided in how special education services are delivered to students. In the case of Black Mountain Special School and Woden Special School, located on the north and south side of the city respectively, there is evidence to suggest that these institutions which have been assured by the ACT Government to have been set up for access to the same facilities and services to each other is quite to the contrary. This is especially evident in the areas of student care where the student suffers from a serious illness which may require routine monitoring by specially trained staff. Black Mountain School, located on the north side of the city, apparently has access to on-site nursing staff who are specially trained in administering medical assistance to students with severe medical conditions such as blood glucose monitoring for diabetic students. Woden Special School, located on the Southside of the city, while being assured of being set up to be a mirror image of Black Mountain School, has no access to specialist nursing staff to cater to those students with serious medical conditions. At present, Woden Special School must rely on the already burdened Learning Support Assistants to deliver critical routine monitoring of serious medical conditions such as diabetes.
Why is it that the Special Needs Students of the Woden Special School have to bear the burden of the education system that discriminates against them on the basis of their medical conditions? If Black Mountain School is designed to set the benchmark for Special Needs Education in the Territory, this standard of student care should apply at both Woden Special School and across the greater special needs education system.
It is the responsibility of government to maintain educational benchmarks in the territory and in this instance, one can only assume that the government has failed to maintain this benchmark and thus, has robbed the students of the Woden Special School of their right to equality within the Special Education System.
That is the end of the comments from Lee Hillier. “Has robbed the students of the Woden Special School of their right to equality within the special education system”
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