Budget Boost To Early Childhood Education Hailed By Neurofusion
Press Release – Neurofusion
'The government's recognition of young students with the highest learning needs suggests that the one in five children who are neurodiverse will receive specialist support,' says Graeme Bennett, CEO of Neurofusion.
'The observation we offer is that this isn't just a resourcing problem, it is a system design problem,' says Graeme Bennett. 'Our hope is that the solutions in the budget include changes to a rigid education system that rewards conformity, penalises difference, and assumes every learner thinks the same way.
'Timetables, curriculum, assessment, and participation are still shaped by industrial-era logic which are built for efficiency, not for human variability. Think fixed bell schedules, standardised content-heavy curricula, high-stakes timed exams, and an expectation of passive, uniform participation. These structures create hidden barriers for anyone who doesn't fit the mould.'
Adding more people to a broken system doesn't fix it, says Bennett.
'What we need is not more of the same but a radical, human-centred redesign that values difference, not just accommodates it. This is a new kind of learning infrastructure that begins with culturally responsive, neuro-inclusive environments. It maps how different brains think using personalised learner profiles. And it helps young people tackle real-world complexity using their unique cognitive strengths through dynamic, project-based learning.
'Fixing this doesn't mean just hiring more aides,' says Bennett. 'It's not a toolkit. It means transforming the system so every learner can thrive.'
Auckland-based Neurofusion works with businesses, educational institutions, and policymakers to create environments where everyone can reach their full potential. BrainBadge is Neurofusion's comprehensive certification programme based on agile and lean principles that reframes cognitive 'disorders' and 'disabilities' into valuable mindsets that can be leveraged to unlock business success.
Neurodivergence is a term used to describe people with brains that are designed differently. Neurodiversity embraces the differences in brain function and behavioural traits as a natural element of human diversity.
Neurodivergent conditions are part of the endlessly different ways that human minds are wired. These conditions known as neurotypes include autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, anxiety, giftedness, sensory processing disorder, Tourette Syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Asperger's syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
As both children and adults, neurodiverse people can have talents and skills that include:
Leadership, innovation, creativity and initiative
High levels of technical and mechanical skill
New ways to solve problems
High levels of concentration
Exceptional design and visualisation skills
Keen accuracy and ability to detect errors
Strong recall of information and detailed factual knowledge
Pattern recognition and drawing connections
Gifted at ethical decision making
Reliability, persistence, high loyalty and retention
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Raising cervical cancer awareness and health literacy among people with HIV As women living with HIV are 6 times more at risk of cervical cancer, communities and networks of people with HIV must come forward to find ways to integrate cervical cancer screening as well as for other cancers (such as breast cancer) programmatically and in people-centred manner, said Daxa Patel, co-founder of National Coalition of People living with HIV in India (NCPI Plus) and its former President. Agrees Pooja Mishra, Secretary of NCPI Plus that it is unacceptable when cervical cancer, which is preventable and curable - and the only cancer which can be eliminated - still kills 350,000 women worldwide. We also need to raise awareness, health and treatment literacy among the young people, said Mishra. That is why NCPI Plus took leadership in organising a national dialogue and stakeholder consultation on preventing cancers among people with HIV, especially women. 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Community leaders like Manoj Pardeshi, who is among the co-founders and inspiring lights of NCPI Plus, said that regardless of gender, all those eligible and at risk of HPV related cancers, must be vaccinated against HPV. Programme addressing cervical cancer elimination should expand to eliminate all HPV related cancers in people-centred ways, regardless of gender. HPV is transmitted through: - Sexual contact: Transmission mode is through vaginal, anal, or oral sex with an infected person. - Skin-to-skin contact: Transmitted through non-penetrative sexual activities involving skin-to-skin contact. The WHO Guidelines recommend HPV detection via molecular test after age of 30 (and every 5 years thereafter). Vaccination against HPV is highly recommended for younger people under the age of 15 or before the initiation of sexual activity. Do not leave equity behind 'Truenat HPV-HR Plus test is about equity in detection. By expanding beyond traditional targets, we reach the genotypes that matter more in our populations for cervical cancer elimination. This means earlier intervention, fewer missed cases, and better outcomes,' said Dr Sachdeva. Truenat HPV-HR Plus offers the best of both worlds - critical genotype coverage and real-world deploy-ability. What does it mean to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030? To eliminate cervical cancer, all countries must reach and maintain an incidence rate of below 4 per 100,000 women. Achieving that goal rests on three key pillars and their corresponding targets: vaccination: 90% of all eligible young people must be fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by the age of 15. screening: 70% of women should be screened using a high-performance test by the age of 35, and again by the age of 45; treatment: 90% of women with pre-cancer treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed. No other cancer but cervical cancer is fully preventable and curable if detected and managed early. Even one death from it is a death too many. Shobha Shukla – CNS (Citizen News Service) (Shobha Shukla is the award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service) and is a feminist, health and development justice advocate. She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College and current Coordinator of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media) and Chairperson of Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA received AMR One Health Emerging Leaders and Outstanding Talents Award 2024). She also coordinates SHE & Rights initiative (Sexual health with equity & rights). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla or read her writings here
