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Deaf transport axed | Herald Sun
PARENTS of deaf children have been forced to quit their jobs to drive them to school after cuts to transport services.
Other deaf children have been forced to spend hours alone on public transport each day just to get to school.
About 200 children are affected by the decision to slash State Government transport services for families whose children attend Victoria's 14 specialist deaf schools.
Previously, taxis and chartered buses were provided to help get students to school -- but the entire program will be phased out by the end of the year.
Mum Helen Ziccone, who is also deaf, gave up her job to drive her son Jarl, 9, to a school that caters for seriously hearing impaired children.
She said at a protest in East Melbourne yesterday that she was struggling to cope with driving Jarl 600km a week to a school in St Albans.
The rising cost of petrol and having to forgo a $40,000 a year income made it especially difficult.
"The Government has said they want the children to have the best education as possible, to have the best opportunities, to become what they have the potential of being when they grow up," she said.
"But then they prevent that from happening.
"By not having transport accessible it means you are disadvantaging deaf children."
The slashing of services is an embarrassment to the Bracks Government and comes just 10 weeks out from the state election.
Families will receive a conveyance allowance of up to $2000 a year but many say the cost of driving children around the state can reach $12,000 annually.
Deaf Children Australia CEO Damian Lacey said the organisation had called on the Government to provide taxis, buses and more funding to help get children to school.
He said the children affected were Victoria's most seriously hearing-impaired kids.
"Before there were taxis available. By the end of this year there will be no transport available at all," he said.
"These facilities provide a level of support that is not available in the mainstream education system. It is very different to being in your local school with very limited educational support."
Mr Lacey said many older deaf children had to catch different trams, trains and buses to get to school each day.
He said some families had to move house to be closer to the special schools after the transport program was cut.
"Deafness should not be a barrier to any child," Mr Lacey said.
"Our Government has a moral obligation to do all it can to support children to achieve their full potential."
The decision to withdraw transport to deaf schools was made in 2001.
Ms Ziccone said it was crucial for her child's development that he attend the specialist school.
"At the new school he has more motivation and is within a hearing environment. To be there is really beneficial. Plus he has access to more friends and more social interaction," she said.
She said she wanted to go back to work but if the Government did not reinstate transport services she might have to send her son to a closer school, which does not provide the special care he needs.
A spokeswoman for Education Minister Jacinta Allan, Louise Perry, said the Government had committed an additional $215 million to support students with a disability in this year's budget.
"Minister Allen recently met with a group representing parents of children attending school and the Government is now working through their concerns," she said.
PARENTS of deaf children have been forced to quit their jobs to drive them to school after cuts to transport services.
Other deaf children have been forced to spend hours alone on public transport each day just to get to school.
About 200 children are affected by the decision to slash State Government transport services for families whose children attend Victoria's 14 specialist deaf schools.
Previously, taxis and chartered buses were provided to help get students to school -- but the entire program will be phased out by the end of the year.
Mum Helen Ziccone, who is also deaf, gave up her job to drive her son Jarl, 9, to a school that caters for seriously hearing impaired children.
She said at a protest in East Melbourne yesterday that she was struggling to cope with driving Jarl 600km a week to a school in St Albans.
The rising cost of petrol and having to forgo a $40,000 a year income made it especially difficult.
"The Government has said they want the children to have the best education as possible, to have the best opportunities, to become what they have the potential of being when they grow up," she said.
"But then they prevent that from happening.
"By not having transport accessible it means you are disadvantaging deaf children."
The slashing of services is an embarrassment to the Bracks Government and comes just 10 weeks out from the state election.
Families will receive a conveyance allowance of up to $2000 a year but many say the cost of driving children around the state can reach $12,000 annually.
Deaf Children Australia CEO Damian Lacey said the organisation had called on the Government to provide taxis, buses and more funding to help get children to school.
He said the children affected were Victoria's most seriously hearing-impaired kids.
"Before there were taxis available. By the end of this year there will be no transport available at all," he said.
"These facilities provide a level of support that is not available in the mainstream education system. It is very different to being in your local school with very limited educational support."
Mr Lacey said many older deaf children had to catch different trams, trains and buses to get to school each day.
He said some families had to move house to be closer to the special schools after the transport program was cut.
"Deafness should not be a barrier to any child," Mr Lacey said.
"Our Government has a moral obligation to do all it can to support children to achieve their full potential."
The decision to withdraw transport to deaf schools was made in 2001.
Ms Ziccone said it was crucial for her child's development that he attend the specialist school.
"At the new school he has more motivation and is within a hearing environment. To be there is really beneficial. Plus he has access to more friends and more social interaction," she said.
She said she wanted to go back to work but if the Government did not reinstate transport services she might have to send her son to a closer school, which does not provide the special care he needs.
A spokeswoman for Education Minister Jacinta Allan, Louise Perry, said the Government had committed an additional $215 million to support students with a disability in this year's budget.
"Minister Allen recently met with a group representing parents of children attending school and the Government is now working through their concerns," she said.