Children with disabilities often can't find places at mainstream schools. It's an issue raised by the disability royal commission which set a target to phase out segregated education by 2051. Advocates say the current system needs to be overhauled so all children are included.
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00:00Harry Banks was 11 months old when he acquired a physical and communication disability.
00:07His mother Michaela says when they were looking for schools, they were consistently turned away.
00:12I got told things like, you know, are you sure we're the school for you?
00:18Did you mean to call us or did you want to call the unit down the road?
00:22Michaela Banks says they thought special school would be his only option.
00:26But she finally called their local mainstream primary school
00:29and they were willing to make it work.
00:31And that's really, you know, that's all we needed to hear,
00:34that they wanted Harry at their school,
00:37that he would be a valued student and would be part of that school community.
00:42Education experts say parents of children with disabilities have very real fears
00:46about a lack of support in mainstream schools.
00:49But those issues can still happen in special schools.
00:52And there is currently no research that suggests children have better outcomes
00:56when they attend segregated settings.
00:58I don't think that necessarily keeping schools separate and divided
01:02and having this binary system is actually the answer to all the concerns that parents have.
01:08The Disability Royal Commission has recommended segregated education end by 2051.
01:13But Education Minister Blair Boyer says phasing it out entirely will have big ramifications.
01:19What's my vision for inclusive education in the future?
01:22It's going to require public education systems and non-government education systems
01:26to be willing to do things it's never done before.
01:28And so if we want that kind of inclusive Australia that I hear everyone talking about it,
01:33we've got to start right at the beginning.
01:35We've got to send our schools, our children to school together.
01:38Harry is now 13 years old and says he's ready for high school,
01:42which will be different but exciting.
01:44My favourite part of school is seeing my friends.
01:47The Education Minister says the department will decide
01:50how it will tackle the issue later this year.
01:56For more UN videos visit www.un.org