Education is a right
All children have a right to education. But suspensions and exclusions are going disproportionately to students with a disability. Between 2016-2020, students with disability received 46% of all short-term suspensions, despite making up about 17% of the Queensland school population.
Support, not punishment
Disabled students are struggling in the classroom because they don’t have the supports they need to thrive. Suspensions won’t change anything because these kids need support, not punishment.
Inclusion benefits all
We all know that an educated society leads to a stronger economy. We need to prepare students with disability to get a job after school and that’s only possible if they’re in the classroom.
We are setting up students with disability for a life of segregation
Suspensions lead to students with disability being further segregated from their peers, falling behind in their learning and failing to gain the skills they need to contribute to the community once they leave school.
It’s even worse for First Nations students with disability who are five times more at risk of suspensions, and students in out of home care with disability who were six times more at risk compared to students not in those groups.
The current system is setting up disabled students for lives where they are not able to join in with the rest of the community and where people aren’t able to benefit from the skills and talents of people with disability.
Inclusion benefits everyone by creating schools that better reflect and help equip all young people with the skills they need to navigate the real world we live in.