359 (2024). Hon Jan Tinetti to the Minister of Education

359 (2024). Hon Jan Tinetti to the Minister of Education: Does the Minister agree with Dr Nina Hood that “schools need to be resourced to cope with psychological and social issues”; if so, will the Minister commit to ensuring schools receive the appropriate resourcing?

Hon Erica Stanford: The Ministry of Education provides schools with funding for their day-to-day operations. Schools make decisions about how they deliver the curriculum and support the social and emotional learning of all learners. The Government funds school-based roles to support teachers and learners, including special education needs coordinators (SENCos), Learning Support Coordinators, guidance counsellors and pastoral care teams. The Government also funds a range of additional support services for schools where needed, such as the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) suite of support, Awhi Mai, Awhi Atu | Counselling in Schools, Social Workers in Schools, school-based health services and Mana Ake. Schools can request further targeted support from the Ministry of Education Learning Support teams (such as Kaitakawaenga, Special Education Advisors, Speech Language Therapists, Psychologists) and the Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour Service (RTLB).