Latest news with #BeyondCapacity:LearningSupportinCrisis
Scoop
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Report Shows Govt's Callous Lack Of Support For System At Breaking Point
Press Release – Green Party The Greens plan lays out real solutions. As a starting point: nationalising ECE, expanding free school lunches, and building a learning support system where every child belongs, says Green Party Education Spokesperson, Lawrence Xu-Nan. A new report from Aotearoa Educators' Collective, released today, has confirmed what teachers, students, and whanau have been calling out for years–our learning support system is overstretched, underfunded, and simply not working. 'This report paints a stark picture of systemic strain, with those working in learning support being pushed to breaking point,' says Green Party Education Spokesperson, Lawrence Xu-Nan. 'Education should serve the wellbeing and potential of all mokopuna—not just those whose needs align with the status quo. We have all the tools we need to give them that and more, but it requires serious investment and support for our workforce. 'However, the Government is intent on making cosmetic tweaks, like fragmented and reactive funding, while ignoring the core issue: the system was never set up to work properly in the first place. 'Every announcement to date from this coalition has tinkered around the edges to make the numbers look prettier, rather than prompting genuine change that benefits our tamariki, their whānau, kaiako, kaimahi, and the wider communities. 'Today's report shows decades of neglect, growing pressure, and a workforce pushed to breaking point. The Government's cancellation of 33 pay equity claims–many of which affect teachers and support staff–makes it blatantly clear they're not serious about fixing it. 'Further, the new Education and Training Amendment Bill completely fails to recognise the actual need of our education system. 'The Greens' plan lays out real solutions. As a starting point: nationalising ECE, expanding free school lunches, and building a learning support system where every child belongs. 'Our plan will put children's wellbeing at the centre of decision-making and policy, where it should have been all along,' says Lawrence Xu-Nan. Notes: The report can be found in full here. Learning support can be defined as '… the systems, services, and personnel designed to ensure that all mokopuna—including those with neurodivergence, disabilities, health needs, or experiences of trauma—can access, participate in, and progress through the curriculum on an equitable basis.' (Beyond Capacity: Learning Support in Crisis, p.5).
Scoop
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Report Shows Govt's Callous Lack Of Support For System At Breaking Point
A new report from Aotearoa Educators' Collective, released today, has confirmed what teachers, students, and whanau have been calling out for years–our learning support system is overstretched, underfunded, and simply not working. 'This report paints a stark picture of systemic strain, with those working in learning support being pushed to breaking point,' says Green Party Education Spokesperson, Lawrence Xu-Nan. 'Education should serve the wellbeing and potential of all mokopuna—not just those whose needs align with the status quo. We have all the tools we need to give them that and more, but it requires serious investment and support for our workforce. 'However, the Government is intent on making cosmetic tweaks, like fragmented and reactive funding, while ignoring the core issue: the system was never set up to work properly in the first place. 'Every announcement to date from this coalition has tinkered around the edges to make the numbers look prettier, rather than prompting genuine change that benefits our tamariki, their whānau, kaiako, kaimahi, and the wider communities. 'Today's report shows decades of neglect, growing pressure, and a workforce pushed to breaking point. The Government's cancellation of 33 pay equity claims–many of which affect teachers and support staff–makes it blatantly clear they're not serious about fixing it. 'Further, the new Education and Training Amendment Bill completely fails to recognise the actual need of our education system. 'The Greens' plan lays out real solutions. As a starting point: nationalising ECE, expanding free school lunches, and building a learning support system where every child belongs. 'Our plan will put children's wellbeing at the centre of decision-making and policy, where it should have been all along,' says Lawrence Xu-Nan. Notes: The report can be found in full here. Learning support can be defined as '... the systems, services, and personnel designed to ensure that all mokopuna—including those with neurodivergence, disabilities, health needs, or experiences of trauma—can access, participate in, and progress through the curriculum on an equitable basis.' (Beyond Capacity: Learning Support in Crisis, p.5).
Scoop
19-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Learning Support In Schools At Breaking Point, Report Finds
Teachers and principals are calling the situation 'dire', according to a new report. Learning support in schools is at breaking point, with some schools fearing a child is going to die in their care because they cannot provide the appropriate supervision, according to a new report. The report by the Aotearoa Educators' Collective highlighted broken funding systems, families battling bureaucracy and children who have extra needs denied access. Learning support is for neurodivergent children, or those with disabilities, health needs or experiences of trauma. Report author Dr Sarah Aiono said the most frequent and hard hitting answer to the survey on the state of learning support was just one word: 'Dire'. '[Teachers] shared that it was just stretched beyond capacity, that they were doing the work to secure funding, that they were trying to navigate the needs, they were trying to advocate all over and above their basic core job which is to be in school and to teach our children,' she said. Aiono said schools were concerned about their ability to keep children safe. 'I had one principal who said to me that they have a student in their school who faints between 16 and 22 times a day and she did not qualify for high health needs support, so because there was no funding available to manage that her teachers and her peers in her high school were left to manage every time she fainted,' she said. 'Teachers and principals are scared they're going to lose a child to death, that a child is going to die under their care because they cannot provide the supervision to support that child to be safe at school.' An estimated 15-20 percent of the population is neurodivergent, but only 6-7 percent of students receive any publicly funded learning support. 'We're now getting to the point where there are actually more children in classrooms than we've ever had before with multiple needs, so it's a sort of perfect storm coming together now that the needs are growing exponentially but the funding is not keeping up and our expertise or availability to specialist support is not available either,' Aiono said. 'One of the parents that I spoke to, she's been waiting for about six to 12 weeks since her 14-year-old has been out of school to even know where to get the help and in that time she's worrying that that child is now not getting support to face NCEA the following year.' The report found Māori and Pasifika students, those attending rural schools and neurodivergent students were most affected by chronic underfunding, fragmented provision and inconsistent access. The report, titled Beyond Capacity: Learning Support in Crisis, is being launched at Parliament on Tuesday, and Education Minister Erica Stanford has been invited.
Scoop
19-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Learning Support In Schools At Breaking Point, Report Finds
Learning support in schools is at breaking point, with some schools fearing a child is going to die in their care because they cannot provide the appropriate supervision, according to a new report. The report by the Aotearoa Educators' Collective highlighted broken funding systems, families battling bureaucracy and children who have extra needs denied access. Learning support is for neurodivergent children, or those with disabilities, health needs or experiences of trauma. Report author Dr Sarah Aiono said the most frequent and hard hitting answer to the survey on the state of learning support was just one word: "Dire". "[Teachers] shared that it was just stretched beyond capacity, that they were doing the work to secure funding, that they were trying to navigate the needs, they were trying to advocate all over and above their basic core job which is to be in school and to teach our children," she said. Aiono said schools were concerned about their ability to keep children safe. "I had one principal who said to me that they have a student in their school who faints between 16 and 22 times a day and she did not qualify for high health needs support, so because there was no funding available to manage that her teachers and her peers in her high school were left to manage every time she fainted," she said. "Teachers and principals are scared they're going to lose a child to death, that a child is going to die under their care because they cannot provide the supervision to support that child to be safe at school." An estimated 15-20 percent of the population is neurodivergent, but only 6-7 percent of students receive any publicly funded learning support. "We're now getting to the point where there are actually more children in classrooms than we've ever had before with multiple needs, so it's a sort of perfect storm coming together now that the needs are growing exponentially but the funding is not keeping up and our expertise or availability to specialist support is not available either," Aiono said. "One of the parents that I spoke to, she's been waiting for about six to 12 weeks since her 14-year-old has been out of school to even know where to get the help and in that time she's worrying that that child is now not getting support to face NCEA the following year." The report found Māori and Pasifika students, those attending rural schools and neurodivergent students were most affected by chronic underfunding, fragmented provision and inconsistent access. The report, titled Beyond Capacity: Learning Support in Crisis, is being launched at Parliament on Tuesday, and Education Minister Erica Stanford has been invited.
Otago Daily Times
19-05-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Learning support in schools at breaking point: report
Learning support in schools is at breaking point, with some schools fearing a child is going to die in their care because they cannot provide the appropriate supervision, according to a new report. The report by the Aotearoa Educators' Collective highlighted broken funding systems, families battling bureaucracy and children who have extra needs denied access. Learning support is for neurodivergent children, or those with disabilities, health needs or experiences of trauma. Report author Dr Sarah Aiono said the most frequent and hard-hitting answer to the survey on the state of learning support was just one word: "Dire". "[Teachers] shared that it was just stretched beyond capacity, that they were doing the work to secure funding, that they were trying to navigate the needs, they were trying to advocate all over and above their basic core job which is to be in school and to teach our children," she said. Aiono said schools were concerned about their ability to keep children safe. "I had one principal who said to me that they have a student in their school who faints between 16 and 22 times a day and she did not qualify for high health needs support, so because there was no funding available to manage that her teachers and her peers in her high school were left to manage every time she fainted," she said. "Teachers and principals are scared they're going to lose a child to death, that a child is going to die under their care because they cannot provide the supervision to support that child to be safe at school." An estimated 15-20% of the population is neurodivergent, but only 6-7% of students receive any publicly funded learning support. "We're now getting to the point where there are actually more children in classrooms than we've ever had before with multiple needs, so it's a sort of perfect storm coming together now that the needs are growing exponentially but the funding is not keeping up and our expertise or availability to specialist support is not available either," Aiono said. "One of the parents that I spoke to, she's been waiting for about six to 12 weeks since her 14-year-old has been out of school to even know where to get the help and in that time she's worrying that that child is now not getting support to face NCEA the following year." The report found Māori and Pasifika students, those attending rural schools and neurodivergent students were most affected by chronic underfunding, fragmented provision and inconsistent access. The report, titled Beyond Capacity: Learning Support in Crisis , is being launched at Parliament on Tuesday, and Education Minister Erica Stanford has been invited.
