Report on school exclusions highlights funding needs -NZEI

<h4 style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">A report highlighting the barriers children with disabilities can face at school shows the urgent need to increase funding for inclusion in schools and professional training of teachers and teacher aides&comma; NZEI Te Riu Roa says&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">YouthLaw Aotearoa this week released <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;mediareleases&period;cmail19&period;com&sol;t&sol;r-l-yduuqdy-thhtttjjit-n&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Barriers to Education in New Zealand&colon; The Rise of Informal Removals of Students in New Zealand<&sol;a>&comma; which claimed that students with special education needs were &&num;8220&semi;grossly over-represented&&num;8221&semi; among those children who are informally removed&comma; or excluded from schools&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;Every child has the right to access to the best education possible&comma; and there is no excuse for children to be excluded from school&comma; informally or formally&comma; because of their disabilities&comma;&&num;8221&semi; NZEI president Louise Green said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;YouthLaw&&num;8217&semi;s report has raised the same concerns NZEI has been raising for some time&comma; including a lack of guidance for schools in how to ensure children with disabilities can thrive&comma; a lack of initial teacher education and ongoing professional development for educators&comma; and the need for both better funding and greater funding support&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;A sensible solution would be to provide each school with a dedicated special needs coordinator&comma; or SENCO&comma; to help identify children who need additional support and ensure that educators are capable of providing it&comma; and that the funding is there to back that up&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;In addition&comma; teacher aides should be provided with specialist training so they know how to give children the support they need&comma; and new teachers should given much more initial teacher education in how to teach children with complex and special needs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;It&&num;8217&semi;s one thing to say that education should be inclusive of all learners&semi; it&&num;8217&semi;s another thing to fund schools&comma; and train educators&comma; so they are equipped to meet every child&&num;8217&semi;s needs&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Ms Green said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;