Reducing Residential Special School Numbers Is Positive

25 May 2012

Reducing Residential Special School Numbers is Right Approach

A proposed reduction in the number of Residential Special Schools has won the backing of New Zealand’s leading disability organisation.

CCS Disability Action said reducing the number of Residential Special Schools will free up resources to provide more individualised support for students with special needs in their local communities.

Currently, there are a number of Residential Special Schools where a small number of students with special needs can attend for up to two years. While these schools provide significant support, they also take students away from their families, homes, and communities and are expensive to run.

The Ministry of Education now proposes reducing the number of Residential Special Schools and instead providing new “wrap-around” services, which involves a lead worker coordinating a range of specialised help for an individual student.

David Matthews, CCS Disability Action chief executive, said wrap-around services have the potential to support more students compared to Residential Special Schools.

“Wrap-around services can and do make a real difference to young people’s lives. These differences carry on into later life benefiting the student, family, community and the taxpayer.

“While I appreciate some parents and teachers are concerned about the changes, what we really need to ask is what is in the best interest of these students and what leads to the very best life-long outcomes.

“We often see disabled people’s options being limited because of short sighted decisions that take them away or isolate them from the community. What we know is that these decisions have huge long term impacts when it comes to living and working options in adult life.

“Shifting resources from residential services to individualised services in a person’s local community makes a great deal of sense.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media