About Education Rights
Education Rights is Victorian based and dedicated to providing parents of children with disabilities/disadvantage factual information about Victorian schools, and Victorian disability education policy and practice. We also provide information about best practice teaching pedagogy and disability interventions. Our priorities are reliance upon evidence-based information, links with parents, and recognition of best practice in Australia and overseas.
Why are we here?
“The Victorian government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people, regardless of their circumstances and background, have the opportunity to participate and engage in a world class education system and emerge equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the future.”
Quote from Department of Education and Training ( formally “Department of Education and Early Childhood Development”) ‘Effective Schools Are Engaging Schools’ 2009
“Since 2006, DEECD has distributed more than $2.6 billion to schools through the PSD. However, DEECD does not have the information it needs to determine whether PSD funding is being used efficiently and effectively. Concerns raised about this by VAGO in 2007 still have not been adequately addressed and instead of having five years worth of high-quality data about the program, the department still knows very little about its impact on the educational outcomes of supported students.”
Quote fromVictorian Auditor General’s Office 2012 ‘Programs for Students with Special Learning Needs’ p viii
“When students with disabilities are unable to enjoy a good education, their future is seriously compromised. A poor education is one of the key reasons why the economic and social participation rate of Australians with disabilities is so low.
The Victorian school system should be structured and funded to support access to education for students of all abilities, including students with a disability that affects their ability to participate and learn. If we do not cater for needs of these students, we are denying them a place in society.
The reality is that DEECD does not have the systems in place to collect this information. This in turn means that the appropriate planning cannot be undertaken to strengthen the system as a whole and to provide schools, teachers and students with the support they need. Similar challenges around data collection and service planning are also evident in the Catholic system and Independent schools sector.
Further, while DEECD has policies, guidelines and support in place for the government school system to meet the needs of students with disabilities, our study indicates that:
it does not know if these work, as there appears to be no means to assess the results of these interventions/approaches or to measure the educational progress of students with disabilities
it does not know if these interventions/approaches are being implemented in all schools, as this data is not collected
it does not know how schools are performing in relation to inclusion and non-discrimination, as there is no feedback mechanism to engage schools or parents at a system level.
Further, there is no means to reliably measure whether PSD funding when provided is delivering the best possible outcomes for students receiving the program’s support.
DEECD has developed valuable guidance for schools, which under the scheme, are required to establish a student support group and prepare an individual learning plan for each PSD-funded student. However, our research has found that implementation of PSD requirements can vary from school to school and there is no system in place to ensure that these requirements are always met or that students with disabilities are making progress towards their educational goals.” Pgs 9-10
Quote from ‘Held Back -the experiences of students with disabilities in Victorian schools’ Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission 2012
Currently, the provision of a quality of education for children with disabilities is seriously compromised, some may say currently impossible, with difficulties including inadequate resourcing, lack of appropriate teacher training, restrictive practices, the failure to follow policies and procedures, and a failure to use evidence-based teaching pedagogy.
Our goal is to provide reliable information in order that parents of children with disabilities, and students with disabilities themselves, can make informed decisions about which school is appropriate for them, and what their rights are when they enrol and attempt to receive an education in a human and dignified environment .