Nine of Otago's lowest decile schools will receive regular visits from social workers in a bid to address issues of child abuse and neglect, as part of an $11 million nationwide extension to the Social Workers in Schools programme.
At present, 285 primary and intermediate schools in New Zealand are covered by the programme, but Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has announced the programme will be extended to cover all decile 1 to 3 schools - taking the number of schools in the programme to 673.
In the Otago region, Brockville School (decile 2), Calton Hill School (2), Caversham School (2), Concord School (3), Health Camp School (Roxburgh) (1), Macandrew Intermediate (3), Pembroke School (Oamaru) (3), Pine Hill School (3) and Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Otepoti (3) will be included in the programme.
College Street School (3) and Forbury School (2) are also low decile schools but will not be eligible to join the programme because they will be merged with Caversham and Macandrew Intermediate schools next year.
As well as an extra 149 social workers in schools, 96 more social workers will be taken on by Child, Youth and Family (CYF) to respond to reports of child abuse.
The measures are expected to cost $11.8 million extra for schools and $10.3 million for CYF.
They will be funded from existing funding rather than any new injection of money.
The extra frontline social workers were vital and the money would be well spent, Ms Bennett said.
"Teachers I've talked to in low decile schools ask for specialist workers to deal with children's increasingly complex and sometimes dangerous home situations.
"We're providing that support," she said.
Reports of child abuse and neglect had quadrupled in the past six years, and the number of substantiated cases had increased 75% over the same period, she said.
Otago Primary Principals' Association president Bernadette Newlands welcomed the initiative.
"There's definitely a need for it down here. There are a number of schools trying to support students who have a lot going on in their lives, and that takes up a lot of time for schools."
However, the problem did not just affect decile 1 to 3 schools, and the programme's availability should be based on the needs of pupils and their families, she said.
"Other schools should have access to it if they need it."
New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association president Robin Duff agreed.
"Experts say behavioural issues must be addressed early in the life of the child, or early in the life of the problem.
"Violence at home is directly linked to challenging behaviour in schools. It's positive to tackle the problem at primary level but the early life of the problem often starts at secondary school.
"We've seen evidence of escalating violence in secondary schools and social workers are a vital ingredient to help address this."
