Educators are calling for answers from Education Minister Erica Stanford after the decision to disestablish the Resource Teachers of Literacy (RTLit) service despite overwhelming sector opposition.
The specialist support programme was until earlier this year funded by the Ministry of Education and provided expertise in literacy teaching and learning to both students and teachers.
In March, more than 100 of these roles were proposed to have funding halted from next year.
Despite hundreds of feedback submissions hoping to save the service, Stanford has pulled the funding.
New Zealand Principals’ Federation vice president Jason Miles said all principals were concerned about the funding cut.
“Not only will we lose the access to a very skilled literacy specialist for our most vulnerable children, we’ll also lose the support that RTLit provides our teachers in professional development.”
Literacy Association president Judith Bradley said the group were feeling “really undervalued” and that they could not make sense of the decision.
“There are so many students out there for whom there is not going to be so much support, and if it’s not coming from literacy experts then who is going to fill the gap for those students?”
Emails obtained by 1News under the Official Information Act showed multiple requests were sent to both the Minister and the Ministry for more clarity on the changes.
Stanford said the change was not a cut but a shift towards a more equitable model.
She pointed to 349 newly-resources structured literacy intervention roles and referenced a 2014 report that labelled the RTLit service as “inequitable” due to its attachment to certain schools.
“It is not a cut, it is a reinvestment into a better delivery model,” Stanford said.
