I
NNOVATION
The most important barrier has been fear and lack of confidence by experienced educators who have not previously
countenanced students with disabilities in their classrooms. A key contributor to removing the barrier has been support
from Disabled Persons Organisations, academics, training for boards of trustees and development of tools and resources
for teachers and trainig providers. This barrier continues to be seen as an opportunity for the Ministry and DPO
partners rather than being a barrier.
F
ACTS ON
O
UTPUT
(W
ITH
A
DDITIONS FROM THE
Z
ERO
P
ROJECT
T
EAM
)
The Government has allocated an additional $69 million over four years for special education initiatives.Funding and
staffing is allocated to each school to support the teaching and learning of all students. Additional specialist support is
provided to assist schools to support the learning and achievement of students with additional learning support needs.
Special grant called Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Scheme (ORRS) were alocated to aproximately 9000 children by
the end of 2015, according to th
e published budget .Effort were also made to a better use of ressource, coordination
and accountability from the different governement agencies.
F
ACTS ON
O
UTCOME
,
I
MPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS
The implementation of this policy is evaluated by the Education Review Office, (ERO) a government department that
evaluates and reports on the education and care of students in schools and early childhood services.
In its
national annual report ,“Inclusive practices for students with special education needs in schools (March 2015)”,
ERO evaluated inclusive practices in 152 schools. Most schools had enrolled one or more students with special
education needs. Three quarters of the schools were mostly inclusive of students with special needs, compared with
only half in ERO’s 2010 evaluation.
The ERO also published reports on “Inclusion of Children with Special Needs in Early Childhood Services“, the most
recent is from 2012. These reports are made by visiting school and submiting questionaries, and lead to practical
recommendation to school and policy recommendation to the ministry of Education.
T
RANSFERABILITY
, S
CALABILITY AND
C
OST
-E
FFICIENCY
Th
e 2015 Budget for Educationin New Zealand can be found online, along with the previous years. One of the biggest
post of expense ($62.9 million, to compare with the $53.263 million for Education Payroll) target children with special
needs. About 40 million concern the grants for eligible children (ORRS mentioned above) and about 23 million are for
extra classroom support for children who do not qualify for ORS support. The extra classroom support will assist
teachers to personalise students’ learning to encourage their participation and achievement.