Students with undiagnosed disabilities and learning difficulties will benefit from a welcome funding boost through changes to the annual educational adjustment allocation (EAA).
The McGowan Labor Government will provide an additional $31.9 million over four years as part of the 2022-23 State Budget, to provide extra assistance to those students who need the most help to improve, particularly with their literacy and numeracy skills.
The EAA is an existing allocation made to schools under the Department of Education’s student-centred funding model.
In 2022, schools were provided with allocation funding of approximately $33 million to support their students with learning difficulties and additional classroom support needs.
From 2023, the EAA will be strengthened to fund help for more students with additional learning support needs.
The additional funding will support teachers to explicitly teach these students the literacy and numeracy skills they need to stay engaged with learning.
This significant investment will provide public schools with more than $8.7 million in extra funding in 2023. The total investment in additional support for Western Australian schools is $31.9 million over four years.
As stated by Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery:
“An increasing number of students have additional learning support needs that require intensive and targeted instruction in school classrooms.
“It’s very important that teachers can identify children who need additional support to learn and are able to intervene early and effectively.
“The expansion of educational adjustment funding will allow schools to apply the early interventions these young people need for learning to read and stay engaged at school.
“The additional $31.9 million in funding over four years will also support more direct intervention for secondary school students who need extra support to develop the literacy and numeracy skills required to achieve a Western Australian Certificate of Education and effectively participate in the workforce.”
