Special education review 2010

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Critical to school success is a national policy framework that is coherent and equitable. This is not easy to achieve under the atomised structures that are a feature of Tomorrow’s Schools. As a consequence, the system relies more heavily than previously on bureaucratic processes to provide consistency – both in terms of negotiating GSE regions/systems and in relation to application and funding processes.. Clear, nationally consistent systems, logical rules and comprehensive processes are required to ensure that the SE goals are able to be met

The Ministry of Education (MOE) needs to provide clearly mapped, transparent networks and information strands. This includes names and contact details of various managers, sections, regions, offices; lines of authority, relationships between different parts of the Special Education (SE) service, etc. This is currently not the case, as our own consultation process demonstrated, with members from different parts of the country experiencing markedly different systems and responses from Group Special Education (GSE) and other sections within MOE.

PPTA, in general, supports the current model of SE provision, with suggestions for improvements as described throughout this submission.

The Special education review 2010 discussion document can be accessed from the Ministry of Education website