Teachers from Meadow Springs Primary School, South Halls Head Primary School, Mandurah Primary School and other schools around Mandurah headed to Parliament House to join teachers, principals and parent groups protesting the cuts.
More than 500 assistants and support staff braved the pouring rain to attend the rally at midday on September 3, with more education workers joining them at 4pm.
The cuts announced last month are expected to result in 150 education assistant roles being lost and a reduction in the School Support program Resource Allocation by 30 per cent.
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READ NOWDepartment of Education Director General Sharyn O’Neill said no permanent education assistant would lose their job.
‘However, in line with the new model of redistributing resources and staff to best meet student need, some permanent staff will move to other schools, some schools will get more staff and some will receive fewer,’ she said.
‘We know this will be a challenging time, but also an exciting one.’
Ms O’Neill said the allocation of education assistants for students with disabilities would not change.
‘The funding reductions to secondary schools vary, but are highest in the larger schools where the greatest efficiencies can be found,’ she said.
The Department of Education was not able to provide accurate figures of how many education assistant positions would be lost within Mandurah schools.