Pauline Hanson says 'get rid of' autistic kids from general classes
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has come under fire for wanting autistic children removed from mainstream classrooms.
During her announcement that One Nation will back the Federal Government's $18.6 bullion school funding package, Senator Hanson said "we need to get rid of" autistic children from mainstream classrooms as teachers spend too much time with them, leaving other students waiting.
“These kids have a right to an education by all means, but if there’s a number of them these children should actually go into a special classroom, looked after and given that special attention,” she said in the Senate this morning.
Hanson claimed that parents and teachers have raised the issue with her.
“Most of the time the teacher spends so much time on them they forget about the child who wants to go ahead in leaps and bounds in their education, but are held back by those," she said.
“It’s no good saying we have to allow these kids to feel good about themselves and we don’t want to upset them and make them feel hurt."
She went on to say "we have to be" realistic at times, considering the impact disabled children are having on other children in the classroom.
While it's understood it was "difficult" for One nation to come to the position of supporting the extra funding for schools, Hanson said she hopes it will improve "our educational standards if it is addressed in the classroom".
She also took the opportunity to criticise Labor for not supporting the bill.
The Opposition wants a further $22 billion to match the original Gonski funding proposed by the Gillard Government.
“It's a start, why can’t you work with the government with regards to this and then build on that,” she said.
“Stop opposing things just because you’re on the opposition. It’s about working together for the future of this nation. I just get so frustrated with the whole lot of you.”
