Victorian government to cut specialised teacher roles from 117 to 32

When the Victorian government announced it would slash positions from its Visiting Teacher Program and shift support teaching responsibilities for disabled children to regular teachers, Ms Bohun said Zoe would "be left out in the cold".

The decision would slash specialist teacher positions from 117 to 32.

Ms Bohun said the move, which she believes was done without consultation with users of the service, would place further strain on an already stressed education system.

"No one has told the parents that this is being cut so, when they heard about it through other means, we've got a lot of very concerned parents out there," she said.

"Our children are going to be left out in the cold in the education system which is already over over-stressed and overworked.

"We just worry that this is going to make more teachers leave the system because they're so over-stressed as it is that they're just not going to do this extra work."

Ms Bohun and her partner Laurence have written an open letter to Premier Dan Andrews and Education Minister Natalie Hutchins pleading with them to reconsider the decision to reduce the number of specialised teachers.

Mr Bohun said Zoe's future "was being stolen" by the move and he and his partner were determined to raise awareness of her plight by circulating the letter through social media.

"It's not just Zoe's teaching at the moment, what happens when she leaves school and can't get a job?" Mr Bohun said. "In the long run it will just put more pressure on the government anyway."

Ms Bohun said under the current system, Zoe, a year 1 student at Baranduda Primary School is visited by a specialised teacher once a week who helps her to learn Braille and other skills for vision-impaired people.

"As it stands, I might be able to approach the NDIS to fund something but that just puts more pressure on the NDIS and we might end up with nothing," she said.

"NDIS already don't like it when they spend money on the education side, so my worry is they might end up going well, that's too much money being spent for the NDIS for education support.

"If that's the case, then what is going to happen to all these kids who need this support?

"I didn't sleep very well last night and I know a lot of parents have just found out about it and are very stressed about it.

"There's not very much support around here for Zoe anyway, it was such a battle to try and get her into the school in the first place."

Education Minister Natalie Hutchins said the government was "proud of its investment in its disability inclusion program".

"These visiting teacher roles are no longer needed long term because we are embedding this work in our school system," Ms Hutchins said.

"Disability Inclusion is rolled out across about 850 schools, we still have a way to go. So those 32 positions will continue to support the rollout in those schools that don't have the program in place yet.

"This government is making huge investments in the disability inclusion space for students."

An Education Department spokesman said the cuts were to avoid duplication of services.

"The current Visiting Teacher program based out of regional offices will be scaled back," the spokesman said. "And we're supporting teachers in those roles to be redeployed into school-based positions.

"The 32 specialised vision and hearing-impaired Visiting Teacher roles will be maintained to support students in these specialised areas of expertise."

Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland said the cuts were impacting Victoria's most vulnerable children "all for the sake of a minor budget adjustment".

"These jobs cuts are truly unconscionable," Ms Cleeland said. "These are children that require the highest level of care in our schools.

"Cutting staff that work tirelessly to assist these students, and the schools they work in, can only have a negative impact.

"Once again, Labor's financial mismanagement has resulted in essential services being slashed as blown out infrastructure programs continue."

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