WELLINGTON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Students learning English as a second language will benefit from a further 9.4 million NZ dollars (6.85 million U.S. dollars) being made available under Budget 2017 to support schools over the next two years, New Zealand Education Minister Nikki Kaye said on Friday.
"New Zealand has an increasingly diverse student population," Kaye said in a release, adding that more schools requested specialized support to help students having English as a second language.
The number of students receiving support from the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program has increased from 32,000 students in 2012 to 39,000 in 2016, according to the release.
Specialist ESOL programs, supported by ESOL teachers, help students from migrant and refugee backgrounds to learn English they need to be successful in mainstream education. The programs also provide mainstream teachers with training and guidance on how to support students who are learning English.
In addition to ESOL funding for supporting students, additional funding has been used to support staff with training for teaching English as a second language, and there are several bilingual tutors working at schools, Kaye said, adding that the type of support that the ESOL funding makes possible has a significant impact on thousands of children in schools right across New Zealand.
"For them to be truly successful in their education they need more than a basic grasp of the English language. Just attending class won't give them the level of English they need, which is why ESOL funding is so important," she said.
"It means schools can provide children with targeted, intensive support in individual or smaller group settings that's delivered by trained and qualified ESOL specialists," she added.
ESOL programs have demonstrable success. NCEA achievement data showed that students who have received ESOL support achieve NCEA level 2 as often as English-speaking background students do.
The extra funding for ESOL announced in Budget 2017 will ensure that teachers and principals can access funding to teach English to students from non-English speaking backgrounds so they can successfully participate and achieve in education, said the minister.
