Overview
The Liberals will institute needs based funding for children with a disability, committing $250,000 to design and test the model in 2018-19, and $6 million to implement the recommendations of the Ministerial Taskforce for an additional two years, through to 2023.
TasCOSS Commentary
The existing scheme relies on IQ cut-offs and does not conceive of funding matched to a diversity of student needs and capabilities. Shifting to a needs-based funding model is equitable and evidence-based, and supports a strong future for all Tasmanians.
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Industry Initiatives & Training
The policy is laudable insofar as it protects TasTAFE within a contestable funding market it cannot succeed within for structural reasons.
Built Infrastructure
While investment in better facilities for Tasmania’s state schools is welcome, as is the investment in early learning and years 11 and 12, it is not clear whether capital works should be the most urgent area of education expenditure for the Tasmanian Government.
School Workforce
Evidence does suggest (not always conclusively) that out-of-field teaching diminishes student results.
Early Childhood Intervention Service
If the ECIS were discontinued—a possibility this policy leaves open—there would be a vacuum of support for children with a disability or a developmental delay at their schools.
High Schools & Colleges
The policy is evidence-based, equitable, and supports a strong future for Tasmanians.