NZ's handbrake
OPINION: Your old mate gets the sinking feeling that no matter who we vote into power in the hope they will reverse the terminal slide the country is in, there will always be a cohort of naysayers determined to hold us back.
Rural schools could face a dual resourcing crisis when it comes to learning support specialists.
That’s according to the education sector union, NZEI. The union says that due to geographical location, many rural schools are struggling to access Ministry of Education learning support specialists like speech language therapists to meet their students’ needs.
On top of this, they are not receiving funding for learning support coordinators based in their schools.
A spokesperson for NZEI told Rural News there has been a long-term underinvestment in the learning support specialist roles, including a hiring freeze on those roles between 2008-2017.
The union adds that without learning support coordinators, rural school principals will have to fulfil the roles and responsibilities of multiple job descriptions.
“This could be making referrals, liaising with agencies, then managing any recommended strategies and taking responsibility for ongoing monitoring and reporting. This is an extra workload on top of their principal duties,” it says.
“Teacher aides are essential to children thriving in the classroom, so their absence can detrimentally impact the child’s social and emotional development, as well as their ability to learn and work independently.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
OPINION: The phasing out of copper network from communications is understandable.
Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.