Minister for Skills John Barilaro told the Newcastle Herald he had pressed pause on a proposal to reduce the institute’s number of teacher consultant for students with a disability positions from 12 to four, and cut the 12 mostly full-time counsellors to six permanent part-timers, to allow for more consultation with affected students.

Mr Barilaro said the number of suggested cuts was also “off the table”.

“We’ve talked to stakeholders, like teachers and the unions and managers and the support workers, but in some cases we haven’t actually relayed that to the client –  the student –  and their family,” Mr Barilaro said.

“They are the most vulnerable in our community and they haven't been included.

“Nothing is driving this reform. There is no pressing need that it has to happen tomorrow or in a week’s time or two months time, it’s get it right and then we proceed.”

Teacher consultants work in a specific area of expertise across physical disability, hearing impairment, visual impairment, mental health, psychological health and intellectual disability.

The NSW Teachers Federation said when the proposal was announced last year that the cut would require teacher consultants to be “generic” and work across all disabilities, which would reduce the level of specialised support available.

Shadow Minister for Skills Prue Car said teachers and students who had been “left in limbo” were experiencing “a lot of anxiety”.

“They don’t know if and when it’s coming and can’t plan for their futures,” Ms Car said, adding that she wanted to see the proposal permanently scrapped.

Mr Barilaro said he wanted to see “something uniform” across all TAFE institutes.

“This is not about finding a cheaper way of doing it, it’s about making sure we deliver current support services that are now being asked for. And that support service has to be flexible because the needs change, year in year out depending on the profile of the student.”  He said further job losses could be expected in areas of “duplication”.