Extra learning support system gets fail mark
One in five children need learning support but the outdated system is failing students, the Government has admitted.
Families have been forced to struggle through ‘‘complex, slow, fragmented and difficult’’ learning support systems to try to get funding approved for their children. It has meant wait times for early intervention support have blown out to an average of 99 days; 74 days for communication services; 42 days for behaviour services; and 24 days for access to ongoing resources.
On Friday, Acting Education Minister Tracey Martin said children were missing out on education due to a lack of support.
Teachers have been the go-to when supporting young people with learning difficulties but they don’t have the knowledge or tools to meet students’ needs, the Education Ministry’s draft plan said.
Parents have been turned away from schools and told their child was not welcome, others were forced to ‘‘jump through multiple hoops’’ to get funding.
That has led to 42.3 per cent of disabled young people aged 15-24 not in employment, education or training in 2017.
Martin said the Government was working to improve the system which would include screening children’s learning needs when they started school.
That would be universal at age 6 to 7, making it much easier to pick up things such as dyslexia earlier.
Providing support for students from a young age was crucial; at the moment, there were 8-yearolds who believed they were ‘‘dumb’’ because their needs had not been identified, Martin said.
James Thomas, principal of Whangaparaoa College, said better screening processes and proper support would result in better learning outcomes for children.
The plan proposes more services for children and young people with disabilities and additional learning needs, and changes to the special needs coordinator role to create an inschool learning support coordinator position. That would require a decision on funding before it was confirmed.
It also proposes changes to the ways neurodiverse children and gifted learners are dealt with through the education system.
‘‘Once finalised, the disability and learning support action plan will provide a clear structure and path for delivering this help,’’ Martin said.
IHC director of advocacy Trish Grant said there were too many children ‘‘sitting on the margins without any resourcing at all’’.
National’s education spokeswoman, MP Nikki Kaye, commended the work to support children with complex needs and said parties could agree ‘‘more needs to be done’’.
The Government put forward $272.8 million in the Budget over four years for operational spending on learning support.
The final plan will be phased in over several years.
Consultation will begin this week and runs until October 31.