Tuesday, 15 August 2023

Inclusive education

Matthew BACH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (16:47): (393) My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek is for her to reverse the callous cuts of the Andrews Labor government to specialist teachers for children with a disability across Victoria. Currently there are 117 so-called visiting teachers. These are teachers who have done significant extra training and who have considerable skills when it comes to supporting children with disabilities and also children who have very serious illnesses, oftentimes life-threatening illnesses. There are 117 for the entire state. They go into schools, principally in regional and rural areas, where there are so few other services, and they work one on one with children with oftentimes really significant and challenging needs.

Since it was announced that the government inexplicably was cutting this service and cutting 117 specialist teachers, denying support to about 5000 Victorian children with disabilities and serious illnesses, I have had so much correspondence, principally from parents who have found that this service and these teachers have been of such immeasurable use to them, to their families and first and first and foremost to their children. I think as members – and I am guilty of this – sometimes we come into this place and say ‘Look, I’ve been inundated with concern’ about a particular issue. I am guilty of gilding the lily from time to time, but on this occasion I have had so many presentations to me via email and on the phone from parents who really feel at their wits’ end.

Yesterday I was pleased to join Mrs Broad and a group of other coalition members to hear from members of the Deaf community about the impact upon them and their children. I then met with another group, with Ms Lovell and also Mrs Hermans, of parents who have children principally who are blind, and they told me and they told us that the government’s proposal to cut these 117 specialist teachers and to replace them with some sort of coaching model that would deliver not one teacher into the classroom was a model destined to fail. What they told us is that their children have really specific and challenging needs. Many of the parents who I met yesterday have children who are blind – not who struggle to see but who are blind.

I used to be a schoolteacher, and I did a great deal of professional development. I would have no idea what to do to support a child who is blind or what to do to support a child who is deaf. We saw with the schools tax that the minister ultimately sought to reverse a botched process. I would urge her again: please, Minister, we know that Victoria is broke and that the government has to seek to make savings; children with disabilities should not be the ones to pay for your financial incompetence.