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New Zealand : Organisation/control of education system

  
This information is intended to provide the background context of structure and control, within which the curriculum and assessment frameworks are implemented.

2.1 Organisation and control of system/structure

2.1.1 Control

See section 2.1.1 of the mainstream New Zealand Archive.

2.1.2 Funding

See section 2.1.2 of the mainstream New Zealand Archive.

2.1.3 Private sector education

See section 2.1.3 of the mainstream New Zealand Archive.

2.1.4 SPECIAL PUBLICLY-FUNDED PROVISION WITHIN OR OUTSIDE MAINSTREAM EDUCATION

Types of provision

Although most students with special educational needs in New Zealand  are in regular, mainstream classes, there is no intention that all students with special needs should be mainstreamed.  Some students remain in specialist facilities in regular/mainstream schools, or in special schools, as the preferred option.⁹ See section 3.2.5 for further information on types of provision.

Size of provision

Enrolments in special schools, July 1998¹⁶

* Students attending health camps and hospital schools are also enrolled at a school and consequently counted on their local school roll. They usually only attend health camps for about six weeks.

Enrolments in specialist facilities (classes/units) in mainstream schools, July 1998¹⁶

In addition, there were 12,316 special needs students receiving additional support in regular classes.¹⁶ (There are currently around 725,000 students in Years 1-13, ages 5/6 to 17/18) in state or private school education in New Zealand.)

In 1998, there were 48 special schools in New Zealand catering for students with special educational needs - sensory, physical, intellectual, and behavioural (out of a total of around 2,800 state and private schools, not including early childhood provision).^5,16

In 1997, 3,200 out of 700,000 students (in Years 1-13, ages 5/6 to 17/18) were involved in Maori-medium education (either bilingual or immersion).³ See section 3.2.5 for further information.

Also in 1997, 30,703 Maori children were participating in early childhood education, with 12,955 of these enrolled in kohanga reo (Maori 'language nests').¹⁰ In 1998, 12,050 children were enrolled in kohanga reo.¹⁶ Details of provision in kohanga reo can be found in section 3.2.5.

Control and funding of provision

Since the beginning of 1999, all students regardless of their level of special educational need have generated their age appropriate level of resourcing on the same basis as other students.⁴

There are various types of funding programme for students with special needs in publicly-funded provision in New Zealand.

• All schools receive a Special Education Grant (SEG) as part of their operational grant. The SEG is paid directly to schools to assist children with moderate special educational needs, such as learning and behavioural difficulties.¹¹ (Previously, funding for students with moderate special educational needs was allocated centrally, but it is now believed that those closest to the student - schools, educators and parents/caregivers, together - are best able to make funding decisions about these students. Schools' use of the Special Education Grant is evaluated by the Education Review Office, ERO.)
• Children with high or very high special educational needs - in cases where these needs are expected to continue throughout the child's school years - are usually funded by the Ongoing Resourcing programme. This initiative provides individually targeted resourcing for such students wherever they attend school. Schools and early childhood centres apply for funding through the Ongoing Resourcing programme on behalf of high needs students. This involves the following steps:
  • parents and teachers/special educators involved with a high needs child meet to discuss the support needed to enable that child to participate in the school curriculum. They complete an application form and send it to the Chief Verifier at the Ministry of Education;
  • the form is then assessed by three independent verifiers employed by the Ministry of Education. These are special education professionals, including one who is a specialist in the field of the child's greatest need. The panel decides whether the child meets the criteria for eligibility for ongoing funding;
  • the Ministry of Education then writes to the centre or school, including a letter to be forwarded to parents, with the results. Funding is then provided to a fundholder (see below) which manages the funding on students' behalf;
  • if the student is not eligible for funding he/she is supported through the Special Education Grant or one of the other Special Education 2000 initiatives. If a parent would like the decision reconsidered, a review can be requested and is carried out by another group of three verifiers. A new application can be submitted at any time, particularly if a child's needs or circumstances have changed.^15,11
• There are also provisions (under the Moderate Resourcing Provisions programme) for three groups of students who have not been included in the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme. These groups of students are deaf or have a hearing impairment; have a vision impairment; or are physically disabled. Some of these students require support on an intermittent or regular basis throughout their schooling. Others require an intensive amount of support over a short period ⁴
• There is also a Transitional Resourcing Scheme for 5- to 7-year-olds with high special educational needs, but for whom verifiers are unable to determine whether their need will be ongoing. ⁶
• The Speech-Language programme provides funding for students who have speech and language difficulties, but who are not provided for by the Ongoing Resourcing scheme. In particular, additional funding is provided to support students who have communication difficulties by increasing speech-language therapy per student and by providing professional development for (mainstream) teachers.
• The Severe Behaviour programme provides funding to help children who behave in a way that jeopardises the physical safety of the student or others; threatens to cause or causes significant property damage; severely limits the student's access to ordinary settings; and interferes with social acceptance, personal well-being and educational performance. The programme involves specially trained support teams working with schools' students, parents, the community and government agencies. It also includes in-school and off-site centres for extra support.
• Funding is also provided under the Early Childhood scheme to ensure early intervention services for children in the setting of the parents' choice. Such services may include teaching, advice, speech-language therapy or providing education support workers. Where required, physiotherapy and occupational therapy are provided through health funding.^15,11

Consequently, all students with special educational needs generate funds at an average level according to whether they have high or very high needs. This funding is then allocated to the 'fundholder'. Fundholders are organisations or schools, designated by the Government as responsible for the allocation of resources to students with special educational needs. All fundholders are expected to allocate resources to individual students according to their individual needs, as discussed at an Individual Education Programme (IEP) meeting between parents, school staff, specialists and fundholder representatives. Funding is usually allocated to such items as therapy, specialist assistance, and other forms of student support, such as paraprofessional (teacher aide) time.¹¹

In addition, in mainstream schools supplementary funding is available as follows:

• Supplementary funding is available on application for delivery of programmes to students with special needs, for English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) programmes and for senior programmes in secondary schools.
• Funding may also include targeted allocations to address barriers to learning associated with socio-economic status. This is called Targeted Funding for Educational Achievement (TFEA). To decide how much extra funding to give to each school, the Ministry of Education gives each school a rating based on data from the Census and from the school's own roll. Schools do not have to apply for TFEA funding. It is paid to them automatically.
• To support Maori language learning, additional funding is also available to schools which run Maori immersion or Maori language programmes. The level of funding depends on the level of immersion of the programme.⁶

Specialist Education Services/Group Special Education

Until early 2002, the agency "Specialist Education Services" was the nationally accredited fundholder for students with special educational needs in New Zealand. However, schools were not obliged to use Specialist Education Services as their fundholder body. They could either seek government accreditation to hold funds themselves, or select another (usually local) accredited fundholder school (or organisation) to hold funds on their behalf. ⁹

Specialist Education Services (SES) was a Crown entity contracted by the Minister of Education to help meet the special educational needs of students, including children in the early years and in transition to school. SES provided culturally appropriate early intervention services, advice, guidance and direct support to children with special needs, their families and educators. SES also made recommendations to the Ministry of Education on the use of discretionary resources such as transport. SES staff were often involved in the formulation of Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for children with special needs. SES also funded a number of alternative providers to deliver direct support services where appropriate, and provides other services under contract and on a fee for service basis.¹⁰

In early 2002, as a new structure for the Ministry of Education in New Zealand, and for the organisation of special education services in particular, began to be put into place in New Zealand, it was announced that those special education services previously provided by SES were, in future, to be provided by "Group Special Education", a new division within the Ministry of Education. For further information on Group Special Education (GSE) and special educational needs provision generally in New Zealand see http://www.minedu.govt.nz/.

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