IHC believes all students with a disability have a human right to attend their local school, feel welcome and included, have access to the curriculum and leave school ready for employment, further learning or participation in their community.
All students with a disability have a human right to attend their local school, feel welcome and included, have access to the curriculum and have great outcomes from the education system.
We know that when disabled students learn alongside students their age at their local school they are set up for a life of citizenship, community participation and inclusion. Research tells us that non-disabled children also benefit from inclusion; their learning increases along with their values of diversity and inclusion.
For too long, disabled students have been disadvantaged by an education system that does not work for them. We see this discrimination through the following system problems:
- No data: A lack of information about disabled students’ presence participation and achievement
- No enabling policy framework: Flawed policies hinder inclusion by not providing what disabled students and their schools need to thrive
- No accountability: A lack of clear monitoring, evaluation and accountability
- No training: Inadequate teacher education and professional development
- No understanding: Disability-related behaviours are often punished and misunderstood.
What does IHC want?
Disabled children and young people should be able to enrol and receive an education on the same basis as every other child.
That means having:
- a no-strings-attached welcome from the school
- required adaptations in place so every child has what they need to learn
- teachers who are confident to teach all children
- full-time attendance each day and over the school year
- a commitment from schools that all children are part of every activity, for example sports, camps and concerts
- monitoring of learning to identify what further adaptations might be needed for achievement
- education policy transformation that results in schools having the human and financial resources needed to ensure all children have equitable access to, and outcomes from, the education system.
We’re taking the government to court
In 2008, after decades of work with the Ministry of Education to solve the problems, IHC lodged a complaint under the Human Rights Act 1993. We wanted human rights law experts to look at the discrimination that disabled students experienced for decades.
Our case had to go through the Human Rights Commission and then government lawyers wanted to “strike-out” key aspects of the IHC case. We had a hearing in the Human Rights Review Tribunal in 2015.
Why is IHC taking this legal action?
IHC is taking this action as a last resort. We have tried everything else over the years to get a fair deal for disabled children and young people at school. We have:
- talked with Ministers and the Ministry of Education for many years
- written many letters and submissions to the Government about the problems and suggested solutions
- developed resources to help families to speak up for their children at school
- funded research that identifies what disabled children need at school to get a fair deal
- funded seminars for schools to talk about how to include and teach disabled children and young people
- built networks of allies, organisations and individuals that support our legal action
- listened to families and disabled children and young people telling us about what they find difficult at school and what would make things right
- had discussions with principals, teachers and Boards of Trustees and their representative organisations over shared concerns about disabled children and young people at school.
What is happening now?
After five years of waiting, the Human Rights Review Tribunal handed down their decision at the end of 2020. The Tribunal dismissed all of the Crown’s “strike-out” arguments.
This was great news! The discrimination experienced by disabled students with disabilities in education can now be heard by human rights experts.
Early in 2021, we had more good news – the Director of the Office of Human Rights Proceedings, Michael Timmins, agreed to provide legal representation to IHC. He thinks the way in which disabled students experience discrimination in their access to education is a serious matter of great public interest. Michael Timmins wants to talk with government about what they could do to better protect disabled students from discrimination at school.
The litigation is ongoing. The long history of IHC’s legal action is in part due to the poor resourcing of the Human Rights Review Tribunal itself resulting in long delays in handing down decisions and securing dates for hearings.
Currently, IHC and the Ministry of Education are having a series of without prejudice and confidential discussions. These discussions are focused on assessing whether the current Minister of Education’s priorities for system change will end the discrimination experienced by disabled students at school.
The Human Rights Review Tribunal has set a deadline for these discussions to end, saying that if the Crown and IHC cannot settle the claim through discussions by 1 July 2025 then we will need to have the case heard in court.
IHC is grateful for the wide-ranging support for our legal action. Many families and organisations feel that, despite decades of asking for a better deal for disabled students at school, things have got even worse.
Timeline
IHC is confident that the large numbers of families, students and professionals who continue to engage with us about education system problems impacting on disabled children will give evidence in court hearings.
