Education dilemma faces some parents

Press, 24 December 1986, Page 3

Education dilemma faces some parents

Some parents say their children’s learning needs are not being met by schools.

The parents’ answer has been to get private tuition for their children, but if it falls during school hours the parents may face prosecution because of a child’s absence. The children are those with special learning disabilities, who are members of a nation-wide organisation, Speld, which offers tuition and help. Specific learning disabilities covered perhaps 40 areas of disability, said a Speld spokesman, national vice-president, Mr lan Brown.

“Problems can be anything from a small motor problem, where a child may have difficulty handling a pen, for instance, to a larger motor problem,” he said.

Some Speld children may have difficulty judging distances, or remembering facts. Others may know the work, but need a reader-writer to help them put it- down in examinations.

Speld says such a child can be helped if recognised early and given appropriate tuition. “It is important to find

them early, otherwise their only experience of school will be of failure,” said Mr Brown.

Under existing legislation, children are not allowed to have private tuition during school time. The Canterbury Education Board has notified some parents of this. If a private member’s bill at present before Parliament is passed, it would have the effect of changing this law.

The board has decided not to prosecute in the meantime.

The retiring district senior inspector of schools, Mr Les Cramond, said people must accept that children develop at different ages. "We must first accept that as normal,” he said. The New Zealand education system catered well for 90 per cent of children, said Mr Cramond. A group of perhaps 5 per cent then developed more slowly. “A further small group for which nobody can be sure they have the answers can be helped by Speld as much as anybody. Speld claims there is only one way; there may be many,” said Mr Cramond.

There is no doubt that one-to-one tuition, such as Speld offered, was a help, said Mr Cramond. However, classroom teachers did this when they could during their day. As more time and more teachers were provided, it was happening more often. The Speld organisation feels that its tutors should not be regarded any differently from schoolvisiting specialists and tutors.

Speld used trained teachers who had taken extra courses to help them identify specific learning disabilities, said Mr Brown.