Lack of housing badly affecting kids’ education

Lack of housing badly affecting kids’ education

8 October 2014

New Zealand’s lack of affordable, decent housing is preventing thousands of children from achieving success at school and NZEI Te Riu Roa hopes that the government will finally start to address what has become a crisis, particularly in Auckland.

NZEI Te Riu Roa executive member and principal of May Road School in Mt Roskill, Lynda Stuart says overcrowded, damp housing as well as transience is severely affecting the opportunities for many children.

She hopes the moves signalled by the Prime Minister for this term of government will result in real housing solutions.

“It’s time something is done. Everyday, school principals and teachers see cases where children have been sleeping in damp and less than adequate conditions. Sometimes two or more families have been squeezed into already overcrowded houses simply because of a lack of affordable housing.”

“We also see many very poorly maintained rental houses – both state-owned and in the private sector. As a result, children get sick and this obviously affects their learning.”

“I sometimes have to act on behalf of families when they are in a crisis but it seems that things have to get to crisis point before anything gets done.”

Transience has also become a major issue in low income areas. Figures released by the Ministry of Education showed that last year on average more than half the students at decile one schools changed schools part way during the year.

Lynda Stuart says these figures don’t surprise her.

“Schools work very hard to support all students, but many now change schools several times in a year and this causes major disruption to a child’s education and general well-being. It also has a big impact on our ability to work with families.”

“We need to see a real plan to ensure that families can get access to decent and affordable housing, so that all children get the opportunity for quality education at their local school."

ENDS

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