This week the AEU joined Education Minister Yvette Berry as the ACT Government launched “Inclusive Education: A Disability Inclusion Strategy for ACT Public Schools“.
The Strategy offers a vision for what inclusion looks like, and how the ACT can enhance its education system to better enact that vision. The Strategy is the result of three years of consultation with teachers, principals, school assistants, parents and carers, experts, and children and young people with disability.
Throughout the consultation, the AEU has been clear in its stance that inclusion will only happen if we invest in our schools, our educators, and our students. To that end, this year’s ACT Budget saw $9.9 million in additional funding for new inclusion coach positions, new PL to enhance your confidence in the classroom, work to reform how the Government funds extra support for the students who need it, among other things. It’s a good start and we’ll look for additional funding to increase as the Strategy is implemented.
We know that AEU members are champions of inclusion: we want every child and young person to thrive at school and we know what schools need to make that happen. The AEU will continue to work closely with the Education Directorate as the Strategy is implemented over the next decade. A phased and considered approach means that the expertise of educators can be heard loud and clear.
Click here to read the Strategy, which features beautiful artwork by AEU member Bek Walters.
AEU ACT President Angela Burroughs speaking to the media with Minister Berry, at Lake Tuggeranong College.