Children in a classroom learning. Photo: UnSplash/ Taylor Flowe
New data reveals some children are waiting more than six months to access learning support specialists.
The official data, obtained by education union NZEI Te Riu Roa, shows as of June this year tamariki are waiting 183 days in the Ministry of Education subregion of Tāmaki Herenga Tāngata - encompassing north and west Auckland.
In the Bay of Plenty there is a wait time of 177 days and in Wellington an average of 146 days.
Union president Mark Potter is calling on the government to step up and fix what he says is 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 union said the data 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).
"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," Potter said.
"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."