New funding for specialist schools for disabled students is a concerning investment in a parallel system of education,
says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker.
Disabled students want the choice to be welcomed in their local school like other students but too often this is not
available to them because of a lack of commitment to one inclusive education system.
“There is a difference between providing funds to make classrooms in specialist schools safe in the interim and
signalling a firm commitment to two systems of education,” says Walker.
The Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) Committee has made it clear that education of disabled
students should not be provided in separate environments in isolation from students without disabilities.
“Of course, children should have safe learning environments, but it is unclear how this investment shows commitment to
an inclusive education system as required by the CRPD.”
This investment announcement comes before addressing the need to strengthen the reasonable accommodations and learning
supports that learners need to participate in their local schools.
“Education is not inclusive where disabled students are segregated from their non-disabled peers, not able to attend
school for the same number of hours as their non-disabled peers, or not able to participate in all aspects of school
life.”
Fully realising article 24 of the CRPD is not compatible with expanding two systems of education: mainstream, and also
special or segregated education systems.
“Whānau often experience little real choice and lack the genuine option of supporting their disabled children and young
people in their communities and local schools.”
An expectation for inclusion and equity is an education system that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supports
Māori-Crown relationships, especially in developing policy and plans for disabled learners.
The Commission recognises that upholding te Tiriti o Waitangi and addressing the legacy of colonisation in Aotearoa New
Zealand, including structural racism, will benefit all communities along with Tangata Whenua.
The Commission reiterates our recommendations, and those of the CRPD committee and the recent Universal Periodic Review
(UPR), that the Government commit to investing in a truly inclusive education system. This would include provision of
proper resourcing of local schools with reasonable accommodation (support) for disabled students
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