Katherine Rich MP
National Party Education Spokeswoman

Reading Recovery hours slashed

The number of hours for remedial reading tuition through the Reading Recovery programme has dropped markedly since Labour came into Government, meaning hundreds of Kiwi 6-year-olds needing extra reading help have missed out, says National's Education spokeswoman, Katherine Rich.

Answers to parliamentary questions show that there are 4,001 fewer hours of Reading Recovery staffing support hours available than there were in 1999.

There were 260,000 teaching hours available in 1999, but this has dropped to 255,999.

Reading Recovery provides daily one-to-one teaching with a specially trained teacher for children making the slowest progress in literacy learning after a year at school. It is supplementary to classroom instruction.

"Though 4,001 hours might not seem significant to some, it's the equivalent of helping 114 children to learn to read.

"Schools can choose a range of reading interventions to help struggling kids, but Reading Recovery remains on offer in 65% of schools.

"Those additional hours from 1999 could have meant the success or failure for some students' education.

"While Labour Education Ministers have continually spoken in support of the scheme, there has been a slow decline in hours actually available to children struggling to learn to read".

ENDS

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