Special Assistance Program (Australian education)

The development and implementation of the Special Assistance Program in Victorian Primary Schools during the period 1979 - 1982 constituted the most significant innovation in the provision of special education services to children experiencing learning difficulties and in addressing declining literacy and numeracy standards. Up until the political directive to initiate this program was given, there had been no policy within the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development directing Principals of Primary Schools to develop special programs for pupils at risk of illiteracy and innumeracy.[1]

From the early 1960s, the Education Department of Victoria (Australia), had developed an extensive range of programs in primary schools that sought to develop the individual ability of each pupil. Also, the ratio of pupils to teachers in schools had been significantly reduced over time and schools had become much more independent in the development of school based remedial programs.

In spite of this, there existed large numbers of children in Victorian primary and secondary schools urgently in need of special assistance in the essential skills of literacy and numeracy. This situation was reflected in the Australian Parliament's House of Representatives Select Committee on Specific Learning Difficulties in 1976. The committee had commissioned research by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) that found that 15% to 20% of children completing their primary education had not achieved a functional level of literacy.

In late May 1979, within a month of being reelected, the Hamer Liberal Government announced Victoria's first major review of its educational policies for more than 50 years.

Anticipating the new direction, in July 1979, the Assistant Minister of Education, Norman Lacy established a Ministerial Committee on Special Assistance Programs. The committee consisted of people drawn from school staffs, special education facilities, teacher training institutions and the Education Department administration. The committee's report was the basis upon which the Special Assistance Program was established.[2]

The process for the establishment of the Special Assistance Program in Victorian Primary Schools was outlined in a speech Mr Lacy delivered to Special Assistance Resource Teachers (SARTs) at a seminar held at Hawthorn State College (Victoria, Australia) on 15 December 1980.[3] In it he announced the most significant development in remedial education in Victoria with a strategic plan for addressing falling literacy and numeracy standards. The totally new component of the Special Assistance Program was the provision of 1000 SARTs for "the delivery of services to children with special needs." These designated teachers were given "a major on-site school responsibility for facilitating a productive relationship between parents and pupils and teachers." The program involved the training of these primary teachers as SARTs and their placement in schools. Their role was the early detection and remediation of children at risk of illiteracy and innumeracy.

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