Australia's progress toward SDG4 targets for school-age students with disability
Australia's progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) for students with disability reveals both challenges and opportunities. Despite existing disability discrimination legislation, systemic barriers persist within government and non-government schooling sectors. A lack of...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1518917/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832548233965993984 |
|---|---|
| author | Stephen Hay Wendi Beamish |
| author_facet | Stephen Hay Wendi Beamish |
| author_sort | Stephen Hay |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Australia's progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) for students with disability reveals both challenges and opportunities. Despite existing disability discrimination legislation, systemic barriers persist within government and non-government schooling sectors. A lack of a coordinated national strategy, combined with fragmented policies, has constrained efforts to promote inclusive education, leaving students with disability underserved, particularly in regional, rural, and remote areas. Underinvestment in mainstream schools has also created disparities in educational access and quality. Moreover, inadequate training of classroom teachers in these schools has continued to restrict the implementation of inclusive and individualized approaches, limiting educational outcomes for this student group. These students therefore continue to experience lower success and completion rates than their peers. This paper emphasizes the urgent need for systemic reforms, including targeted investments and a national policy framework aligned with SDG4, to address these issues. We argue that to achieve equitable, inclusive, and quality education for all students, collaborative effort across all levels of government and education sectors is required for Australia to realize sustainable progress toward its international commitments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f542c35f620b4af78dd5f37d11732023 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2504-284X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Education |
| spelling | doaj-art-f542c35f620b4af78dd5f37d117320232025-02-03T06:33:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2025-02-011010.3389/feduc.2025.15189171518917Australia's progress toward SDG4 targets for school-age students with disabilityStephen HayWendi BeamishAustralia's progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) for students with disability reveals both challenges and opportunities. Despite existing disability discrimination legislation, systemic barriers persist within government and non-government schooling sectors. A lack of a coordinated national strategy, combined with fragmented policies, has constrained efforts to promote inclusive education, leaving students with disability underserved, particularly in regional, rural, and remote areas. Underinvestment in mainstream schools has also created disparities in educational access and quality. Moreover, inadequate training of classroom teachers in these schools has continued to restrict the implementation of inclusive and individualized approaches, limiting educational outcomes for this student group. These students therefore continue to experience lower success and completion rates than their peers. This paper emphasizes the urgent need for systemic reforms, including targeted investments and a national policy framework aligned with SDG4, to address these issues. We argue that to achieve equitable, inclusive, and quality education for all students, collaborative effort across all levels of government and education sectors is required for Australia to realize sustainable progress toward its international commitments.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1518917/fullaccessdisabilityinclusive educationstudent equitySustainable Development Goal 4 |
| spellingShingle | Stephen Hay Wendi Beamish Australia's progress toward SDG4 targets for school-age students with disability Frontiers in Education access disability inclusive education student equity Sustainable Development Goal 4 |
| title | Australia's progress toward SDG4 targets for school-age students with disability |
| title_full | Australia's progress toward SDG4 targets for school-age students with disability |
| title_fullStr | Australia's progress toward SDG4 targets for school-age students with disability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Australia's progress toward SDG4 targets for school-age students with disability |
| title_short | Australia's progress toward SDG4 targets for school-age students with disability |
| title_sort | australia s progress toward sdg4 targets for school age students with disability |
| topic | access disability inclusive education student equity Sustainable Development Goal 4 |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1518917/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stephenhay australiasprogresstowardsdg4targetsforschoolagestudentswithdisability AT wendibeamish australiasprogresstowardsdg4targetsforschoolagestudentswithdisability |