Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin have today confirmed hundreds of millions in funding for learning support roles in schools.
Ms Martin announced the Draft Disability and Learning Support Action Plan in late September, proposing new Learning Support Coordinator roles in schools across New Zealand to help pupils with special learning needs like dyslexia or autism, pending approval from Cabinet.
Ms Ardern today confirmed the government will commit $217m over four years to the new Learning Support Coordinator roles, with an initial intake of about 600 expected to be in place as early as the start of 2020.
More funding and staff in these types of roles has been requested by teachers union NZEI Te Riu Roa as they have undertaken industrial action seeking more pay and reduced workloads.
The latest of the union's strikes is scheduled to take place during the week starting November 12, after members rejected a second offer made by the Ministry of Education following their August 25 strike.
"A big concern I hear regularly from teachers is the amount of time they spend trying to get support for children with additional needs," Ms Ardern said.
"The new Learning Support Coordinators are a win-win; kids with both high and moderate needs will get on-the-ground support, parents will have a specialised point of contact and teachers will have more time to teach.
"The Coalition Government has listened to the parents and students who've asked for more support, and teachers who have been calling for this new fully-funded role."
Ms Martin said students with learning disabilities "have been poorly served by an underfunded system".
"Our targeted investments, along with our work to streamline the support system, will reduce the issues parents and teachers face and lead to better student wellbeing," Ms Martin said.
"These coordinators will be a specialised point of contact for parents with someone who understands their child’s unique learning needs. They’ll also provide expert assistance for teachers.
"They will work alongside classroom teachers to ensure all students with needs – including disabilities, neurodiversity, behavioural issues and giftedness – get the support they should expect.
"We are deliberately taking a two-phased approach to rolling out coordinators across all schools. We’ve inherited a significant teacher shortage and implementation of the new role in full from the beginning of 2020 would place huge pressure on the education workforce supply.
"Planning for the second phase will be worked through once this first tranche of coordinators is in place and a clearer picture of medium and long term workforce needs emerges."
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