More support needed in schools to address effects of poverty

2 December 2014

School principals say more public health nurses and social workers are needed in many schools to help children suffering from the effects of poverty.

Auckland’s May Road School principal and NZEI Te Riu Roa National Executive member, Lynda Stuart, says public health nurses and social workers are vital in many schools but are often overwhelmed by the size of the problem they’re dealing with.

The latest Annual Child Poverty Monitor has revealed today that 24 percent of children remain in poverty and more than half of those have been living in poverty for many years.

“In our school, we have a public health nurse working one day a week but she is far too stretched and is called away on many occasions to deal with issues such as rheumatic fever and vaccinations. This means she is often unable to get to the heart of the many issues that children living in poverty face.

“The same goes with social workers. We share a social worker with another school though we desperately need her every day in our school. These are people who do a great job but are under-resourced to tackle the problems they face."

Lynda Stuart says it is a tragedy that the Government remains committed to spending $359m on its controversial Investing in Educational Success scheme when schools desperately need more resources to deal directly with the effects of poverty.

"That’s why teachers and principals have been calling for a Better Plan for schools that would provide more support staff, smaller class sizes, more support for Maori and Pasifika children and better quality early childhood education.

"We know that poverty is the main cause of students not succeeding at school and that’s why we have initiatives such as Breakfast Clubs to try to help kids get in the right space for learning."

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