Greater Teacher Aide Support Welcome

16 February 2015

Greater Teacher Aide Support Welcome But Disabled Children Still Not Getting Fair Go in Early Childhood Education

CCS Disability Action has welcomed the roll-out of the In-Class Support initiative giving a greater number of primary and secondary students teacher aid support, but is warning the programme has no plans to assist early childhood education, particularly for disabled children.

Chief Executive of CCS Disability Action, David Matthews, said that teacher aides play a vital role in supporting students’ participation in classes. However, he cautioned that it was critical teacher aides focused on supporting students to learn in regular mainstream classes, rather than in special classes or schools.

“These additional teacher aide hours will work best in schools that use inclusive teaching practices to welcome all children in regular classes. Teacher aides can play an important role in helping children with additional educational needs to participate.”

Mr Matthews said that while the In-Class Support initiative was a positive first step for primary and secondary education, he was concerned about the strict rules surrounding education support workers, the equivalent of teacher aides, in early childhood education. Current rules are stopping disabled children from getting a fair go in early in life.

Currently, the Ministry of Education limits funding for education support workers to an absolute maximum of 15 hours per week, while every child is legally entitled to 20 hours per week. Mr Matthews said that the 15-hour limit created extra challenges for disabled children and their families.

“It is great to see the Ministry acknowledge the issues in primary and secondary education, but it is vital we provide support even earlier, particularly for children with disabilities.

“Children who need an education support worker all the time are effectively losing out on five hours a week compared to other students. This can impact the education of the child and prevent parents, especially single parents, from finding work.”

Mr Matthews said that this is a basic issue of fairness.

“The disabled children affected by this are not getting the same opportunities as other children and are disadvantaged when they start school. This is out of step with the government’s focus on early childhood education participation and vulnerable children. Research has also shown that early childhood education has important long-term benefits for disabled children.”

Less strict rules around the allocation of education support workers’ hours would help disabled children attend early childhood centres for longer, he said.

“More flexible rules would allow the Ministry of Education to approve extra hours on a case by case basis. The Ministry should aim to ensure all children can actually use the 20 hours of funded early childhood education. Increasing the funding limit to 20 hours would be a small, but important step. The cost would be minimal, while the benefits to those children affected could be vast.”

ENDS

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