Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ was recently contacted by two families that took their children out of school because of what they said was lack of support for their children’s special needs. 123rf
Children are missing weeks and even months of vital schooling because of stand-offs between their parents and their schools.
Youth advocates say the problem happens repeatedly and highlights the need for a free service that resolves disputes between schools and families.
RNZ was recently contacted by two families that took their children out of school in early February because of what they said was lack of support for their children’s special needs.
One returned to class on a part-time basis after seven weeks of being absent, while the other was still at home when the April school holidays began.
Both agreed an independent dispute resolution service would have helped.
Children’s commissioner Claire Achmad said in the first instance it was up to schools to solve disputes and ensure children were returned to class.
But she said when that didn’t happen there was a gap.
“There does seem to be a bit of a gap here in terms of being able to have a clear pathway to be able to resolve these disagreements or disputes at the lowest level as quickly as possible,” she said.
Dr Achmad said the Education and Training Act allowed for the creation of a dispute resolution organisation for schools and families, but no government had yet set it up.
“I know it’s something that my predecessor Children’s Commissioners have advocated for, and I support and build on those calls because it’s crucial that there’s timely, child-focused and practical holistic resolutions in these kinds of situations,” she said.
Achmad said calls to the Children’s Commission/Mana Mokopuna’s children’s’ rights line indicated disputes between schools and families were not uncommon.
“This is a common theme that we are hearing about, and it shows that there is a need for more focus on finding that clear mechanism, implementing it, so that there can be timely child-focused resolution in these kinds of situations.”
Children’s commissioner Claire Achmad. RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Youth Law senior solicitor Velda Chan said families could go to the Human Rights Commission or seek a judicial review of school decisions, but neither were easy options.
“If they’ve come to a situation where they can’t resolve things, then there isn’t a lot of places they can go to try and work things out,” she said.
Chan said an independent and free disputes panel would be helpful.
Principals Federation president Jason Miles said disagreements between schools and families were fairly regular, but it was unusual for children to be out of school for more than a couple of weeks.
He said the ministry did not usually get involved and if schools and families could not agree on an issue, there was no organisation to step in and mediate.
Miles said an independent body would help.
“I don’t think there’d ever be a process where everyone would be happy with an outcome, but that would be another step,” he said.
“The focus would need to be on a resolution process that uses restorative and culturally appropriate processes and procedures, and be done in a timely manner so that disputes could be resolved and children won’t miss out on being in education.”
Autism New Zealand chief executive Dane Dougan said two months was too long for children to be out of school.
He said the Education Ministry was usually able to mediate disputes and if that didn’t work, some families turned to the Human Rights Commission.
Dougan said autistic children were much less likely to have problems in schools where staff had specific training in working with neuro-diverse pupils.
The Education Ministry said schools were resourced to provide learning support to children who needed it and families should try to resolve disputes with their school’s board in the first instance.
But if that didn’t work the ministry could become involved.
“Where concerns are escalated to the ministry, we can review the situation and work with the school and board as needed to support a safe and inclusive learning environment. If parents remain dissatisfied with the board’s response, they can also raise their concerns with the Ombudsman.”
The ministry said all children had the same right to attend their local school.
“When concerns arise about a child’s support, supervision, or safety, and this affects their ability to attend school, the Ministry of Education’s role is to help uphold that right and support schools and families to work through what is needed.
“These situations can be challenging for everyone involved, particularly when a child has been unable to attend school for a period of time.”
A parent who contacted RNZ said her son was out of school for seven weeks while the family tried to persuade the school to provide better support for him.
She said the ministry became involved when she contacted it about two or three weeks into the disagreement, but the family still had to make a lot of effort to get the support it wanted.
“The initial response was ‘there is nothing we can do here’,” she said.
“It was only the fact that I got through to a capable, competent person through the incident line that I believe this even got moving.”
The woman said an independent body would have helped a lot.
“There has not been a single accountable person who has said ‘it is my responsibility to resolve this’,” she said.
Another parent who contacted RNZ said a dispute resolution body needed to be independent.
“An independent body would provide a much fairer path than a ministry that effectively assists schools in managing parents who speak up,” she said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand