An Education Select Committee inquiry report into learning needs for children with significant challenges has found large holes in the current system, but does not go far enough to address them, the Green Party said today.

Hypertargeting of students, through “a risk index”, in a new education funding review has missed the point that the whole public education system needs more funding, the Green Party said today.   The education funding review decisions announced today by Minister of Education Hekia Parata will see 19 indicators used to make a risk index for each student, and the controversial bulk funding proposal has been dropped.   “Schools desperately need extra money, but this hyper targeting is going to...

A new survey of the early childhood education (ECE) sector shows centres struggling to make ends meet under a six-year Government funding freeze, the Green Party said today. The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa survey of ECE centres shows that 87 percent of respondents have experienced shortfalls since the Government first froze per-child funding six years ago. The Government has pushed for 98 percent of children to be participating in ECE before starting school as a Better...

Two special schools, and an unknown number of mainstream schools, are continuing to use seclusion rooms, despite the Education Minister’s recent moves to outlaw them, the Green Party said today. The Green Party has obtained answers to written Parliamentary questions which show that two special schools are continuing to use seclusion rooms. “For the welfare of the children at those schools, I am calling on Hekia Parata to immediately decommission all seclusion rooms,” Green Party education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty said...

Minister of Education Hekia Parata would have known about seclusion rooms for more than a year and did nothing to stop their use until she was publicly shamed into doing so, the Green Party said today. The Minister has today proposed to prohibit seclusion in schools and early childhood education services. “It’s a bit rich for Hekia Parata to now claim credit for making seclusion rooms illegal, when she could have taken this action more than a year ago when...

Education Minister Hekia Parata needs to come clean with Kiwi parents about exactly how many state schools are using seclusion rooms, if any, and how long she’s known about them, the Green Party said today While responding to Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty during Question Time today, the Minister admitted that eight special schools are currently using seclusion rooms, and that the Ministry is currently surveying all state schools to see how many are also currently using them. “Hekia Parata...

The Green Party supports the call for the Government to set up an independent tribunal that families can use to appeal schools' disciplinary actions. Just a week after reports that kids with learning support needs have been locked in a seclusion room, YouthLaw has today released a report showing that a large number of New Zealand kids are being pressured out of school in a way which is inconsistent with the Education Act. “Hekia Parata’s hands-off attitude is letting kids...

The Minister of Education could end the seclusion of school children in small, dark rooms today if she wanted to, rather than leaving the welfare of those children in the hands of an Ombudsman’s review, the Green Party said today. The Ombudsman and Children’s Commissioner today announced they will be investigating the use of seclusion rooms in schools, following reports that more than two schools have used them. “The hands-off attitude displayed by Hekia Parata is letting children be locked...

Government plans to open up the Correspondence School Te Kura to corporate entities or charter schools could have terrible consequences for the quality of education that children receive, the Green Party said today. National’s Education (Update) Amendment Bill introduced today will change how education is delivered in Aotearoa. This includes creating Communities of Online Learning (COOL) that will threaten the existence of the Correspondence School Te Kura. “Online charter schools that use public money for private profit don’t provide the...

Proposals to change special education funding to learning support needs to ensure access, equity, and sustained support, the Green Party said today. Green MP Catherine Delahunty initiated a Select Committee Inquiry into dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism spectrum disorders in schools in New Zealand that is due to report back in the next few weeks. The Inquiry has heard from hundreds of children and families about how hard it is to currently access genuine inclusion and resources for the children that...