School Principals Pleased Minister Acknowledging Special Needs
President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF) Denise Torrey, has welcomed the Minister’s announcement that
$2.5million will be allocated to support children in classrooms with high learning needs in the next two terms and says
this is a great start, chipping the surface of what has become a seriously problematic area of schooling.
‘We are delighted that the Minister has turned her focus to special education right at the beginning of the year,’ said
Torrey, ‘and we are pleased that there will now be some real support for the teachers of at least 1,500 students who
represent some of our greatest classroom challenges,’ she said.
Ever since NZPF collected the results of a survey on special education issues over a year ago, principals have been
advocating, for a re-examination of special education provision including how funding is allocated and administered. A
cross sector hui to thrash out the problems was proposed by NZPF but roundly rejected by the Minister at that time.
‘I am optimistic that today’s acknowledgement by the Minister that the special education space is in need of attention,
will herald a renewed commitment to looking more deeply into how we can work together to give our special needs children
the appropriate schooling experiences they so richly deserve and which so many schools are not currently equipped to
offer,’ said Torrey.
ENDS