Students With Disabilities Face Huge Funding Shortfalls

Funding gaps in Australian schools are hitting students with disabilities the hardest.

A report from the Education Council called the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) showed more than 268,000 students with disabilities are in school without funding to assist in their education.

NCCD numbers for 2015 revealed 12.5 per cent of all Australian school students—468,265—received some form of support due to disabilities. This supplementary learning support is known as an “educational adjustment” and can include things like handrails and ramps.

The report indicated the number of students who required some sort of financial support dwarfed the number of students with disability that the Productivity Commission said were actually funded.

“It really is very disappointing,” said Federal Education minister Simon Birmingham.

There are teachers who say they’ve been struggling for years to find financial resources for students with disability.

Terry Bennett, a Melbourne school principal, told the ABC teachers who work alongside students with disabilities recognise the need for extra support. When there isn’t enough money to make the support available, it can lead to tough calls.

“Unfortunately, it also means sometimes you have to make hard decisions about access time in the school,” explained Bennett.

The government has admitted it doesn’t use NCCD statistics to inform funding decisions.

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