New Zealand Executive Government Speech Archive

The new Special Education Unit that we are opening today is in addition to the one established in 1993. It has been provided by extensions to an existing building at a total cost of $194,000. That includes furniture and equipment. It has special features designed to make it easier for people with disabilities. The need for a secondary co-educational facility in the Wellington for severely intellectually disabled students has been recognised in the establishment of this new facility.

I congratulate Newlands College on taking a lead in establishing facilities for students with special needs.

Although it is a first for me in visiting Newlands College in an official capacity, it is not my first contact with Newlands College. I well remember a few years ago before I was involved in politics, welcoming Newlands College cultural students to look at our newly established vineyard in Martinborough.

Special Education is an area in which a lot of additional activity is happening at the moment. Our new Special Education 2000 is advancing well. It is not as if this project is starting from scratch. Special Education has grown markedly in the last few years. Special Education Discretionary Assistance funding is four times greater in 1996 than it was in 1990. 31 million of taxpayers dollars will be made available for Special Education Discretionary Assistance grants this year. An increase of 7.36 million over 1995. 168 million in total has been voted for Special Education purposes over the coming year.

Special Education is designed to enhance education outcomes for learners with special needs. The comprehensive package of improvements for special education currently under development - known as the Special Education 2000 project - will introduce a fair and consistent allocation of special education resources. Obviously the proposal has implications for the Budget and I cannot announce it in detail ahead of time, but I certainly use this opportunity to send a signal to you and to people beyond this institution that it is an area where I think some priority should lie.

As for the Newlands College Unit, $52,890,92 is funded for this schools operation. It includes $14,800 for unit funding, $21,074 for psychopedic funding, including $11,221 for equipping the new classroom and $17,018 for first year special education discretionary or SEDA funding as we know it which transaltes into 14,010 teacher aide hours.

I would like to congratulate all those at Newlands College who have worked to bring this launch of the new facility today to fruition. It will be, I am sure, a very worthwhile addition both to the Colleges facilities and to the communitiys facilities.

Congratulations and all the very best for the future.