An extra $100 million was announced for the Government’s More Support for Students with Disabilities program as a part of the Budget.
Parliamentary Secretary for School Education Jacinta Collins explained that the $100 million would extend the program to the end of the 2014 school year, the Senator added that a further $14 million would be phased in for the implementation of a nationally consistent collection of data and for other support to school students with disability.
“The Gillard Government is committed to ensuring all students, no matter where they live or what school they attend, get the support they need to achieve their full potential,” Senator Collins said.
More Support for Students with Disabilities helps deliver practical assistance for students and schools including:
• helping around 27,000 teachers and staff, 2,800 principals and leaders and 970 teachers’ aides build their skills so they can provide better help to students with disabilities;
• providing assistive technology such as iPads to over 630 schools and training more than 2,160 teachers in their use;
• making it easier for health and allied health professionals to help students in more than 1,000 schools; and
• helping over 950 students to move between different stages of schooling or into further education, training or work.
Senator Collins explained that Commonwealth funding for schools will be calculated according to a new Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), of $9,271 per primary school student and $12,193 per high school student.