Children in some regions waiting more than six months to access learning support specialists

The wait time for children under the age of five to access specialist learning support is now nearly 20 percent longer than it was a year ago.

Some children waiting for early intervention services to support speech and language, behavioural challenges and other learning needs now wait for as long as 183 days and nationally on average 126 days – according to data obtained by education union NZEI Te Riu Roa.

To highlight the long wait times – a symptom of understaffing and a lack of resourcing – NZEI Te Riu Roa members around the country have organised events as part of a Learning Support Awareness Day on 29 August.

The data shows significant inequities in wait times across different regions of the country.

According to official data obtained by NZEI Te Riu Roa as of June this year tamariki in the Ministry of Education subregion of Tāmaki Herenga Tāngata (which encompasses north and west Auckland) wait 183 days to access early intervention services. This is followed by the Bay of Plenty with a wait time of 177 days. Children in Wellington wait an average of 146 days.

President of NZEI Te Riu Roa, Mark Potter, says it is appalling that wait times are this long and in some cases have worsened. He says it is urgent the Government invests more money in specialist staff to meet the needs of children.

"The Government must step up to fix a broken system that is failing children. In the context of a two or three-year-old child’s development, a six-month wait is a huge delay in getting critical support, compounding the challenges to their learning success. In ERO's recent report on oral literary rates, it shows that 20 percent of young children at age five are struggling with speaking skills.

"The first 2000 days of a child’s life is critical to developing their full potential – so investing to ensure they get the specialist support they need early on will pay huge dividends to the child, their family and the community – both now and, as evidence has shown, throughout their lives."

Wait time data* obtained by the union highlights similar delays across several learning support services for students in primary school, including Communication Services (speech and language therapists), Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (which provides support for students with the highest ongoing levels of need for specialist support), and Behaviour Service (specialists who provide additional support with social and emotional learning).

“During these wait times, educators are reporting behaviour problems that develop out of frustration, negative thinking, and low self-esteem because tamariki are not getting the help they need. By the time they get support, the learning support specialist then has to battle with these social development issues on top of the existing educational development issues.”

Potter says in an ideal world, learning support specialists would see a child the same month they get the referral.

“A significant lack of investment by the Government in learning support, plus unfulfilled vacancies for specialist staff, is driving the long wait times for tamariki. This data shows we have hit a new and deeper level of crisis, and it is our children who are paying the highest price.

“Government should stop talking about the problem and commit to increasing funding to learning support services.”

NOTES: 
Figures quoted in the release above are monthly average wait times for June 2024.

Learning Support Awareness Day events are being held around the country on Thursday 29 August.

Early Intervention Services is the support for the early learning services, family and whānau of children who have additional learning needs

The average Early Intervention Services waitlist numbers are 3540 (for financial year 2023/24 ending 30 June).

The average wait time is 126 days (for financial year 2023/24 ending 30 June).