Enrolment and Placement in Special Education - Essay Example

Introduction Education is a central part of the development of every nation. What makes education such a phenomenal concept is the fact that education does not just concern academic knowledge but transcends to include the acquisition of a lot more knowledge and skill that makes a person whole. To this effect, education has been defined as the acquisition of “knowledge in basic skills, academics, technical, discipline, and citizenship” (Webb, 2009). The definition also draws a very useful implication worth discussing – and that is; if education is not just about acquisition of academic knowledge, then education is important to all people regardless of age, tribe, social status, level of ability or gender. To this effect, special education would be said to be a very vital and necessary concept in our national policies. This is because in educating the special need person, we do not just prepare the person to be academically competent but then we do a lot more to enhance the totality of the person’s life. Watson (2011) explains that special education is a "specially designed instruction, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability." She continues to emphasize that “special education is in place to provide additional services, support, programs, specialized placements or environments to ensure that all students' educational needs are provided for.” This is how useful special education is to the child with disability. This essay therefore seeks to examine the trend of enrolment and placement in special education in Australia and seek to find the strength and weaknesses of the special education policy and how it can be improved. Overview of special education in Australia Special education in Australia is treated with a lot of attention and concern. To this effect, there are governmental policies and laws that back it. There are also a number of associations that ensure the smooth running of the special education program. One of such recognized associations is the Australian Association of Special Education (AASE). The AASE aims to enhance access for students with special education, improve the quality of educational programs, promote professional standards of a high order and to support research that informs the delivery of special education in the Australian context (Arthur-Kelly, 2011). In countries such as the United States, there are national policies such as the Individual with Disabilities Education Act and The Rehabilitation Act. For instance Page 118 STAT. 2649 of the Rehabilitation Act states that the Act is a “policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities” (U.S Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, 2007). In a similar relation, Australia also has Acts that promote the improvement of special education as seen in the mission statement of the Australian Association of Special Education. This not withstanding, there have been some few hitches with the implementation of the Special Education Acts in Australia. A provider of services to people who are blind or have low vision, Vision Australia indicates in a Review of Special Education Services in ACT Public Schools discussion paper states that some parents of the disabled are not pleased with the public schools system and therefore switch to join individualized programs (Renee and Sue, 2009). Trend of enrolment and placement in special education In Australia, special education is regarded as the education that “covers the education of children with particular needs” (AUSSIE Educator, 2011). Enrolment and placement into special education targets “students who exhibit special requirements in the areas of behaviour disorders and learning, physical, hearing or vision impairment” (AUSSIE Educator, 2011) whiles treating gifted students with special abilities separately. This means that gifted students are not included in the enrolment and placement when talking about special education. Enrolment and placement takes two major forms, which are integration into regular schools and separation into special schools. In cases where special needs students are enrolled in regular schools, the school system is forced to cut down on admission to make classes have smaller numbers of students. The reason for doing this is to ensure that teachers and educators have sufficient time to pay special attention to students. When special needs students are placed in regular schools, the system is referred to as mainstreaming or inclusive (AUSSIE Educator, 2011). The special schools on the other hand permit for large scale admission because attention given to special needs students in special schools do not interfere with attention given to regular students. One good thing about enrolment and placement for special education in Australia is that enrolment and placement goes on in both government and private (individualized) schools. This makes the scope of enrolment and placement very wide and far reaching. As much as possible, all special needs students are given a fair opportunity to be in school – be it inclusive or segregation. The role of educators in the enrolment and placement of special needs students As indicated early on, enrolment and placement of special needs students into mainstream and special needs schools in Australia is not the prerogative of government alone. Private and mission institutions also have important roles to play in this endeavour. According to the NSW Department of Education and Training (1997), government schools take greater percentage of all enrolment of special needs students in Australia. The main focus of mission and private schools have to do with the inclusive system whereby the private and mission schools enrol and place special needs students into regular curriculum. Using the catholic mission as a case study, the mission has a role whereby “The first point of contact for enrolment of students with special needs into a Catholic school is the Principal of the school in which you wish to enrol.” Upon admission, the principle refers the special needs student to the Regional Consultant responsible for the particular school in questions. The duty of the consultant is to assess the readiness and capability of the school to handle the student(s). The assessment is done based on the provision and availability of resources and facilities to cater for special education. As part of the discussion and assessment, parents or caregivers are involved to appreciate the need for the enrolment and the roles they will have to play thereafter. This system and process remains the role of government and private schools who want to enrol special needs schools. The roles are however slightly different when it comes to enrolment into special schools and special centres. For instance the major task of educators of a particular school is to undertake assessment of potential special needs students to determine whether or not they are eligible for placement. Educators assess special needs children in areas such as IQ, concurrent deficits in adaptive functioning self-care, social/interpersonal skills, functional academic skills, work, health and safety (Department of Education and Training, 2011). After the assessment, the educators give their judgment on whether or not the child is qualified to be admitted. The role continues to include the conduct of a review brought forward by either the parents or guardians of the child should the educators fail the child for placement. Strengths of the policy The enrolment and placement system in Australia has a number of strengths. In the first place, the enrolment system, especially the boarding system of schooling for the special need child is one that saves the child the pain of having to move from the house to school every now and then. Special needs students such as the blind and mentally retarded all go through inconvenient times moving from one place to the other. The boarding system, which is the commonest system of schooling for special needs students in Australia, therefore addresses this all important concern. To this effect, Haugann (1991) states that “if, however, conditions in the home are particularly difficult due to extreme poverty, rejection, or overprotection of the child, then the school for the blind may represent a better environment in which to grow up.” Secondly, the special school enhances the special needs students not only with academic competence but also with practical career enhancing occupation and professions. Students are also taught fundamental concepts such as citizenship, basic law and interpersonal relationship. What is more, students are trained on how to take care of themselves in a much easier way than it would have been for students if they were not enrolled and placed in special schools. The third strength has to do with the fact that the special education system opens itself up to as many special needs children as possible. This is seen in the fact that even in the enrolment process, students who are initially disqualified are given the opportunity to reapply or call for review (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2005). Finally, there is a lot of fairness and openness in the enrolment and placement system. This is seen in the fact that the decision for enrolment is taken at the higher level by principals and special education consultants. Weaknesses of the policy Notwithstanding the strengths numerated above, there are a few weaknesses with the policy. The qualification and professional competence of teachers handling the special education curriculum and for that matter the enrolment and placement have been criticized by many. Haugann (1991) laments that “low expectations and negative attitudes towards the visually handicapped are phenomena not only met within the public; but we find such negative attitudes even among experts who work for the blind.” Considering the fact that the special education system can barely survive without the teacher or educator, tackling this problem is very important. Criticizing not just the enrolment and placement system but the whole special education program, Haugann (1991) writes about how the special needs student feels socially disintegrated whether he enrolls in the integrated school or the segregated school. He notes that “many blind pupils feel bitterly isolated in ordinary schools” (Haugann, 1991). Finally, there is the weakness of lack of funds to support an expanded enrolment and placement system. Because of lack of sufficient funds, there are less special schools than can contain special needs children in Australia. The need for improving enrolment in special education schools Considering the fact that special education is very crucial to the development of the nation, there is no way the promotion of improved and enhanced all-inclusive enrolment and placement system should be underestimated. Policy makers should be tasked with the responsibility of improving enrolment in special education schools so as to expand the benefits of the special school system to all special needs children. The following reasons account for why it is important that every effort be put in place to ensure the improvement of enrolment in special schools 1. Making the enrolment procedure better means adhering to the regulations and laws of the country that protect the basic Rights to education of the special needs child. 2. An increased enrolment would mean that more and more special needs children will be offered the benefit of receiving formal education. 3. Increasing the enrolment of special needs children into fully funded educational systems would reduce the burden on parents, guardians and other family members in the upbringing of their wards who need special needs attention. 4. An improved enrolment and placement system would mean that special needs children would be given the opportunity to feel more belonging and useful to the nation. This way, the special needs child will be empowered on how to be useful and be willing to be useful to the nation. Strategies for improvement Continuing discussion on how enrolment and placement in special education can be made better would lead to an abundance of suggestions, most of which can be adapted for implementation in the nearest future. To this effect, the writer suggests the following strategies for improving enrolment and placement in special education. 1. Special incentives should be given to parents who attempt to enroll their special needs wards in schools. 2. Special needs children who do not qualify for a particular term’s enrolment assessment should be given another chance to reapply. 3. More and more private schools should be encouraged to undertake segregated curriculum. This will invariably increase enrolment of special needs children in schools 4. Government should vote more funds into supporting private individuals who undertake special needs education. 5. Teacher training for special needs educators should be equipped to ensure that educators have a better understanding of their duty and responsibility in the enrolment and placement of special needs students. Justification and Conclusion The justification of these strategies rest in the fact that when undertaken, special needs children will enjoy all the benefits of special needs education discussed earlier. It will therefore be concluded that government should be more dedicated to the welfare of the special needs child in Australia. To this effect, policies should be closely monitored and evaluated and again, more funds should be directed towards the improvement of enrolment and placement in special education. REFERENCE LIST Arthur-Kelly, Michael, Australasian Journal of Special Education https://www.australianacademicpress.com.au/journals/details/1/Australasian_Journal_of_Special_Education. Australian Academic Press. 2011. Web. September 3, 2011. AUSSIE Educator. Special Education. http://www.aussieeducator.org.au/education/specificareas/specialeducation/specialeducation.html. 2011. Web. September 5, 2011. Australian Human Rights Commission, Disability Standards for Education 2005: Guidance Notes. 2005. Canberra. Print Catholic Schools. FAQs. http://www.catholicschools.nsw.edu.au/schools/faqs/faqs.aspx. 2011. Web. September 5, 2011. Department of Education and Training, Enrolment of Students with Disabilities in Special Schools and Special Centres. http://www.det.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/19167/EnrolmentOfStudentsWithDisabilitiesPolicy.pdf. 2011. Web. September 4, 2011. Extract from U.S Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services. http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual.oesp/2004/index.html. 26th Annual Report. Washington. 2007. Web. September, 2011. Haugann, Else M. Strengths and Weaknesses of Integrated Education and Special Schools for the Blind: an International Perspective. http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/fr/fr10/Issue1/f100109.html. 1991. Web. September 6, 2011. NSW Department of Education and Training, Extract from Enrolment of Students in Government Schools. http://www.det.nsw.edu.au./policiesinter/category.do?=level=Schools. 1997. Web. September 4, 2011 Renee, Williamson and Sue, Craine, Review of special education services in ACT public schools. Comments on the discussion paper. http://www.visionaustralia.org/info.aspx?page=2112. 2009. Web. September 5, 2011. Sue, Watson What is Special Education? http://specialed.about.com/od/idea/a/Special101.htm. 2011. Web. September 5, 2011. Webb, Robert, L. What is Education? http://www.motivation-tools.com/youth/what_is_education.htm. 2009. Motivation Tool Chest. Web. September 4, 2011. Read More