More students with special needs to get support   30 Jan 2015

More students with special needs to get support

Education Minister Hekia Parata announced today that 1,500 students with special education needs will be the first to benefit from additional teacher’s aide hours from Term One this year.

The students will be eligible for five teacher’s aide hours a week to support them to overcome difficulties that may have an ongoing impact on their ability to learn.

Ms Parata says eventually about 4,000 Kiwi kids with special education needs and their teachers will receive extra classroom support. The initiative is expected to provide 800,000 additional teacher’s aide hours a year.

“We want to make sure that every child in every classroom in New Zealand has the opportunity to achieve educational success and this government is already investing $530 million in special education.

“The new In-Class Support initiative will give kids with ongoing learning needs the extra individual support they need to have the best chance to be successful,” says Ms Parata.

“It will also have flow-on benefits for other children in the classroom.”

Support will be allocated based on the level of educational need students face and may be associated with conditions such as dyslexia, ADHD and autism.

“The Ministry will work with representatives from the education sector over the coming months to identify the next cohort of students and how funding will be made available to achieve the greatest benefit for schools and students.

“Most schools are already working hard to make a difference for kids with special education needs and we are committed to supporting their great work.”

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