KEY POINTS:
The appearance by Education Minister Chris Carter at the launch of Dyslexia Awareness Week was less than successful - a fact the minister himself was the first to admit.
Mr Carter spoke at the official launch in Wellington, where expectations were high for a targeted funding package for
children with dyslexia.
Instead, he made a commitment to improve accessibility to information on dyslexia, and pointed to funding allocated for dyslexic children within a wider funding package aimed at literacy.
Yesterday, the Dyslexia Foundation said the Government should "put up or shut up," saying that last November, it had promised specific funding to address the condition in schools.
Mr Carter acknowledged at an education select committee meeting that his speech had not been well received.
He said the Government had a number of initiatives relating to dyslexia that were fitted into the wider programme of literacy.
The Government had made a "fundamental shift" in recognising dyslexia as a problem within literacy, which marked a milestone in addressing the problem.
He said there was an "ongoing programme of work" but agreed the Budget had not met the ambitions of the Dyslexia Foundation.
"The reality is, of course every parent wants the absolute best for their child and why wouldn't they? We all want that.
"There was a sense, I think, of disappointment [at the launch] that a larger percentage of resources had not gone in specifically for dyslexia and that's of course always going to be the disappointment of any particular group who have a strong passion for what they believe in and what they want to achieve."
Foundation chairman of trustees Guy Pope-Mayell said the minister's reluctance to earmark funds was a "tough blow" for New Zealand's 70,000 dyslexic schoolchildren.
The funding commitment, specifically for a work programme to address the needs of dyslexic students in the classroom, was made by the minister at a meeting with the foundation on November 19, Mr Pope-Mayell said.
This followed the Ministry of Education's formal recognition of dyslexia in April last year.
"If the ministry has some concrete and meaningful funded work under way we need to know the specifics now," Mr Pope-Mayell says.
A nationwide survey released last week showed an overwhelming majority of education professionals wanted specific funding for dyslexia students.
The Nielsen poll showed 95 per cent of respondents wanted that, and 99 per cent believed this would also have benefits for non-dyslexic children.
- NZPA
