Objection to Closure of Special Schools for Children with Disabilities
Wednesday 11 November 2009
Dr Moyes, Leader of Family First in NSW Parliament, objects strongly to the announcements of the planned closures of both the Kingsdene Special School and Residential Services which has been run by Anglicare in Telopea for 33 years, and the Dalwood Assessment Centre which includes the Palm Avenue School operated by the NSW State Department of Education and Training.
Dr Moyes commented, “Kingsdene is the State’s only boarding school for profoundly intellectually and physically disabled children, and there is nowhere else for these desperate families to turn. The Palm Avenue School was the last of its kind to provide the highly complex support services to children from rural and remote NSW with severe learning disabilities. What is the State doing to people from rural and remote New South Wales? Where will this appalling cessation of crucial social and educational services end? Taking these programs away from the neediest in our community is a terrible decision and I believe this is now an actual state of emergency for those effected.”
Dr Moyes knows these special schools well and greatly admires their work with profoundly disabled children. He now calls upon the State and Federal Governments to increase funding for all schools helping children with disabilities. Anglicare, the Anglican charity, cites their lack of government funding for the lamentable decision to close their doors as it costs $1.2 million a year to keep going.
Dr Moyes said, “The parents of children with a physical or intellectual disability are often stretched more than any others with the sheer exhaustion of coping day to day, and these closures will put unbearable pressure on them, further straining families already working so hard to manage. If the government really wants to support families, this is where they should begin! Dalwood has an excellent research-based, proven program with 35 years experience. To disband the current staff would be a profligate waste of talents and skills that are so needed by these children.”
“The Federal and State Governments simply must give exceptional consideration to the special needs of children with disabilities and their struggling families.” END.