Public hearing in Sydney, 22 October 1999
Witnesses giving evidence in Sydney were
- Deborah Knight,
Director, Dalwood Assessment Centre: Dalwood clients; assessment;
services; outreach program; residential program; language and literacy;
support to rural staff; financial constraints; disability assessment
in rural schools; ethnicity of clients; assistance from hospitals; other
remedial and assessment services
- John Sutton, Assistant
Director-General (Primary Education), George Green, Assistant Director-General
(Student Services and Equity Programs) and Dr Alan Rice, Executive Director
(Early Childhood and Primary Education), Department of Education
and Training: Schools for specific purposes; access scholarships;
distance education; staffing formulae; senior secondary clusters; satellite
trial; improving teaching and learning quality; literacy strategy; Basic
Skills Test; Reading Recovery; equity programs; compensating for remoteness;
Disadvantaged Schools Program; programs for students with disabilities;
Indigenous students; teaching Aboriginal languages and history; school
non-participation - Moree; history teaching; Wilcannia; Indigenous education;
school-community collaboration; school-work transition for Aboriginal
students; parental involvement; race relations; gay and lesbian students;
education funding; otitis media; staff incentives; relief teachers;
professional development; cross-sectoral co-operation; TAFE access;
students with disabilities; fees
- Edna McGill and
Enza Di Stefano, Ethnic Communities Council: Role of ECC; rural
disadvantage; literacy program; technology; community relations; rural
funding and service formulae; education funding; education administration;
rural NESB students; Moree example; distance education; disadvantaged
schools program; alternative schooling; ethnicity of teachers
- Chris Watt and
Diet Calliope, New South Wales-ACT Independent Education Union:
IEU membership; teacher recruitment; pre-service training; staff accommodation;
professional development; subject choice; staff transfer opportunities;
salary and conditions; staff incentives; Catholic school funding; female
staff; rural social issues; Internet access; recommendations; Indigenous
education workers
- Ben Folino Policy
Officer, and Megan Sweeney, parent, Disability Council of NSW:
Right to integration; funding for integration; disability discrimination;
staff training needs and expectations; industrial issues; Wagga experience;
health services; intellectual and physical disabilities compared
- Professor John
Lester, Aboriginal Education Consultative Group: Community relations;
rural social issues; cultural immersion; Aboriginal English; pedagogy;
Aboriginal Studies; mobility; teacher expectations; funding for Aboriginal
education; Indigenous staff; technology; distance education; evaluation;
staff attitudes; consultation; best practice models
- Belinda Epstein-Frisch,
Institute for Family Advocacy and Leadership Development: Role
of Family Advocacy; students with disabilities; policy of inclusion
- international framework; barriers to inclusion; resource support for
inclusion; staff attitudes; teacher aides; specialist support; staff
training needs; participation in excursions; Indigenous students with
disabilities; barriers to DDA process; intellectual and physical disabilities
compared
- Dee Wilkes-Bose,
Director of Rural Affairs, NSW Farmers' Association: Impacts
of isolation; resources for rural schools; staff incentives; staffing;
telecommunications; education costs; home tutors; travel; subsidies;
HECS; subject choice; Youth Allowance; student options; post-school
options; work experience; staff retention; Rural Summit
- John Irving, Wagga organiser, and Wayne Patterson, Bathurst organiser, NSW Teachers' Federation: Teacher shortage; specialist staff recruitment; impacts of teacher shortage; Dubbo super-school example; technology; staff incentives; professional support and development; relief teachers; staffing; transfer destinations; integration of students with disabilities; teacher recruitment; rural social issues; cross-sectoral collaboration; Bathurst VET example; Aboriginal schools; Aboriginal Studies
