SPECIAL EDUCATION 2000 PROBLEM FIXED

The Government has moved to fix a teething problem with the criteria for the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme, which is part of the new Special Education 2000 programme.

?The scheme commenced this year. Given it is such a complex area, I fully expected there would be some initial problems as it bedded down and that some review would be necessary," Education Minister Wyatt Creech said today.

?After reviewing the operation of the new criteria we have become concerned that some autistic students have not been included for individual resourcing under the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme.

?We have therefore reviewed the criteria so that they now clearly acknowledge the severe disorder of language and social communication common to many autistic children.

"As it was always intended that these students would be included in the scheme, students who meet the revised criteria will have their funding backdated until the beginning of Term 1," Mr Creech said.

In some cases it has been possible to easily identify students who qualify under the new criteria. Their schools will be notified. Schools that believe they have a student who may be eligible under the clarified criteria and who have not heard from the Ministry by 6 May should contact the Chief Verifier at the Ministry of Education in Wellington.

The criteria change affects students with Autistic Spectrum Disorder including Asperger Syndrome.

The Ongoing Resourcing Scheme is the part of Special Education 2000 that provides individual assessed funding for students with high or very high sensory. physical or intellectual special education needs. Those students with high or very high speech language or behavioural special education needs will have their needs addressed through other schemes that are part of the overall Special Education 2000 programme currently under development and trialing.

Special Education 2000 includes a new grant called the Special Education Grant (SEG) to schools to meet the low to moderate special needs of the students at the school.

"There has been some public concern that the Special Education Grant has had to be drawn on to meet the costs of autistic children as they did not get into the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme. This decision corrects that concern.

"Entry into the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme is by a nationally consistent comprehensive verification process. This national consistency assures that all students wherever they are in New Zealand are being assessed on a common basis. This makes the distribution of the funding fairer.

?It is hardly surprising that there has been a teething problem in the introduction of a large and complex policy such as Special Education 2000. It will take time for schools, principals, teachers, parents and children to get used to the new processes. Over time, I remain confident that there will be significant benefits to the education sector and students with special needs from the new Special Education 2000 policy," Mr Creech said.