Thursday, 3 August 2023

Inclusive education

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (09:58): The Premier and his callous Minister for Education have stooped to new lows. Today we see that they are cutting 80 to 100 frontline service teachers from the visiting teacher program for rural and regional Victoria, which provides support to over 4000 students with a disability: with hearing, visual, physical and mental impairments. These are children that from the very get-go need additional support. I have been on the phone this morning to a parent who is bereft that her daughter, who has had a fantastic support teacher for over six years, does not know how she is going to cope in that system without this teacher. The government are prepared to cut services to the most vulnerable students in our state because of their incompetence and the bumbling of a broke Victoria. This is an absolute indictment of the Andrews government.