Disability advocates call for South Australian schools to phase out segregated education
Children with disabilities often can't find places at mainstream schools. It's an issue raised by the disability royal commission which set a target to phase out segregated education by 2051. Advocates say the current system needs to be overhauled so all children are included.
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00:00Harry Banks was 11 months old when he acquired a physical and communication disability.
00:07His mother Michaela says when they were looking for schools, they were consistently turned away.
00:12I got told things like, you know, are you sure we're the school for you?
00:18Did you mean to call us or did you want to call the unit down the road?
00:22Michaela Banks says they thought special school would be his only option.
00:26But she finally called their local mainstream primary school
00:29and they were willing to make it work.
00:31And that's really, you know, that's all we needed to hear,
00:34that they wanted Harry at their school,
00:37that he would be a valued student and would be part of that school community.
00:42Education experts say parents of children with disabilities have very real fears
00:46about a lack of support in mainstream schools.
00:49But those issues can still happen in special schools.
00:52And there is currently no research that suggests children have better outcomes
00:56when they attend segregated settings.
00:58I don't think that necessarily keeping schools separate and divided
01:02and having this binary system is actually the answer to all the concerns that parents have.
01:08The Disability Royal Commission has recommended segregated education end by 2051.
01:13But Education Minister Blair Boyer says phasing it out entirely will have big ramifications.
01:19What's my vision for inclusive education in the future?
01:22It's going to require public education systems and non-government education systems
01:26to be willing to do things it's never done before.
01:28And so if we want that kind of inclusive Australia that I hear everyone talking about it,
01:33we've got to start right at the beginning.
01:35We've got to send our schools, our children to school together.
01:38Harry is now 13 years old and says he's ready for high school,
01:42which will be different but exciting.
01:44My favourite part of school is seeing my friends.
01:47The Education Minister says the department will decide
01:50how it will tackle the issue later this year.
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