Education is highly valued in Australia. There is fundamental view embedded in Australian life that education is a critical enabler of opportunities. We know that the chances of having a good life are so much higher if you have a quality education. Sadly, this is denied to most children with disability.
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Countless inquiries have shown that our education system is grossly inadequate for students with disability. The direct experience of people with disability also demonstrates this. Too many experience abuse and violence, often legitimised as "treatment", many in fact happen at so-called special schools.
It is therefore no surprise that the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has highlighted the critical need for education reform. Critical to the reform required is the need to end segregation and phase out special schools. There is nothing special about these settings.
The education of students with disability in Australia is typically characterised by chronic low expectations, exclusion, inadequate professional training of educators, underfunding, bullying, and discrimination.
I have seen this systematic discrimination and dehumanisation up close over 20 years as a disability advocate and as a parent of two (now adult) sons with disability. I was CEO of the peak body Children and Young People with Disability Australia for 11 years until 2019 where I learnt from thousands of children and young people with disability and their families that our education system is failing students with disability. My work since then shows little has changed, and the royal commission has further confirmed that it is beyond time for change.
My children of course were my greatest teachers. Both are now both fierce leaders in their own right for inclusive education. My sons were both luckier than most as by and large they experienced a quality and inclusive education. Like many though it was riddled with compromise and there were some very dark experiences. The positive experiences they had were dependent on relentless and vigilant advocacy by family and other allies.
The data is in on segregated education and it is not positive. Despite this evidence there has been a growth in new special schools opening in Victoria. Many reasons are stated for why these schools are a preferable option. Smaller settings, more expertise, better to be with similar peers and less likelihood of bullying. If they are so good how did the royal commission find otherwise?
Segregation is not only limited to special schools, but also occurs in mainstream schools. Students with disability are regularly placed in separate classes, classrooms, groups or spaces. They are grouped together in assemblies, and are often denied participation in school camps, sport or other extracurricular activities. When disability advocates call for an end to segregation of students with disability, we mean ALL types of segregation.
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A common argument used to support special schools centres on parents' rights to choose where their child goes to school. This view however is based on the workings and collective experience of an education system that is failing to meet the needs of students with disability. One that is in dire need of reform at every level. Parents aren't being afforded real choice, rather the reality is they are deciding on the option that will work best at this particular moment in time.
Most times however there is no real choice when students do not get their educational needs met at their local school, or in many cases where they are actually denied enrolment to begin with, many parents would like their children to be educated at a regular school and that they would be safe or a welcomed and valued member of that school community, but the hard-lived reality is very different.
Segregation sends a strong and powerful message that people with disability need to be separated. It creates fear, ignorance and ableist attitudes. Sending it to children and families at the beginning of their school journey condemns them to second class citizen status, and also sends a signal to school communities that exclusion of people with disability is not only OK, but expected, because it is being done by education professionals. Segregation dehumanises people with disability, and it must stop.
We can't overlook the profound lifelong impact denial of a quality education has for people with disability. Lives characterised by welfare dependency, poverty, imprisonment, unemployment and homelessness can be traced back to school exclusion.
If Australia is truly committed to better lives for people with disability, then it must ensure that every person has an accessible, quality and inclusive education. The royal commission's recommendations to move away from segregated education must be prioritised by all Australian governments
- Stephanie Gotlib is a disability advocate, Asia Pacific regional representative of Inclusion International, former CEO of Children and Young People with Disability Australia from 2009-2019 and a parent.
