Standards for RTOs 2015 – Clause 1.7

‘The RTO determines the support needs of individual learners and provides access to the educational and support services necessary for the individual learner to meet the requirements of the training product as specified in training packages or VET accredited courses.’

What are support services?

‘Support Services’ include being able to address all issues relating to aspects of an individual that can affect learning, not just purely academic ones.

On June 8 2013, the Queensland Government released a Five Year Action Plan to reform the state’s further education and training sector.

Included in this action plan is the INCLUSIVE LEARNING FRAMEWORK

What is inclusive learning?

Inclusive learning is about a fair go for everyone. Everyone has a right to learn, everyone can learn, but many people do not get fair access to learning opportunities. Vocational education and training (VET) systems and practices need to change to create the conditions necessary to include all learners.

Inclusion is also about social justice. Inclusion assumes diversity is accepted, respected and valued. It suggests that a just state of affairs is one in which people with a disability or another form of human difference should be included in society from the outset.

What disadvantaged backgrounds exist?

People from disadvantaged backgrounds include:

Indigenous Australians

Women

Youth

People with a disability

People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

People from remote communities

People with low literacy and numeracy skills

An RTO Policy Statement

An RTO Policy Statement re  Clause 1.7 might say:

XXX prioritises the implementation and maintenance of robust inclusive practices, which include identifying and providing support services individual learners need, including those with disadvantaged backgrounds.