ASG applauds government’s education spending

&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;" alignright size-full wp-image-1514" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;schoolnewsnz&period;fastrackdev&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;05&sol;f9f341a252e6a44dc7e00ff97982b460&lowbar;400x400&period;jpeg" alt&equals;"f9f341a252e6a44dc7e00ff97982b460 400x400" style&equals;"margin&colon; 5px&semi; float&colon; right&semi;" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"300" &sol;>ASG is pleased with the New Zealand government&&num;8217&semi;s commitment to education spending in the 2015 Budget&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> <&excl;--more--> <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>ASG CEO John Velegrinis says the education spending commitments are widespread&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We are pleased that of the &dollar;680 million&comma; a large portion will go towards new schools and classrooms&comma; allow more children to attend early childhood education and the budget will inject a much-needed boost for special needs children to pay for more teacher aides&comma; speech therapists and psychologists&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Education is the engine room of our economy&comma; so investing in education is crucial for any government&period; ASG is passionate about education and ensuring that all children have access to a quality education regardless of their background or personal situation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Earlier this year the ASG Planning for Education Index revealed New Zealand families could spend up to &dollar;630&comma;000 on their children&&num;8217&semi;s education for 13 years of private schooling&period; State education isn&&num;8217&semi;t cheap either at almost &dollar;38&comma;000&comma; so any help parents and families can receive from the government is welcome&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Budget also included &dollar;63 million for teacher aid support for special needs students&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;It&&num;8217&semi;s also great to see direct support for teachers to assist children who need special attention&period; ASG has been a consistent supporter of teachers and the role they play in educating the next generation&period; This is why we set up the ASG National Excellence in Teaching Awards in 1994 to provide the community with an avenue to recognise the hard work of teachers&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Mr Velegrinis said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Prior to the budget&comma; ASG conducted a pulse check survey and asked parents to name one education issue the government should focus on&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>From more than 1500 responses&comma; a resounding 44 per cent of ASG parents wanted the government to put more funding and support into school facilities and resources&comma; early childhood and a continued commitment to school funding&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Velegrinis said it was important for government to note that more than half of the parents surveyed were interested in broader education issues&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Parents are clearly telling us that they are interested in more than just how well their children are performing and are engaged with broader education issues such as funding&comma; teacher quality and the curriculum&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;