There is a range of funding and support available to students who are blind, deafblind or have low vision at school.
Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS)
The Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) has 9 criteria covering 5 areas of student need for special education: learning, hearing, vision, physical, or language use and social communication.
To meet ORS criteria, students must have:
- ongoing extreme or severe difficulty with any of the need areas, or
- moderate to high difficulty with learning, combined with very high or high needs in any two need areas.
For more information about ORS funding visit the Criteria for Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) information page on the Ministry of Education website.
Special Education Grant
The Special Education Grant provides funding for students with special education needs. All schools receive this grant as part of their operational funding. There is a handbook available to help schools identify and meet the special education needs of your students.
For more information about the Special Education Grant and to download a copy of the handbook, visit Managing the Special Education Grant: A handbook for schools webpage on the Ministry of Education website.
Special Education School Transport Assistance
Once your child gets to school age, if they need help getting to and from school safely they may be able to get Special Education Transport Assistance (SESTA). How much help they get is based on their needs and the nearest school that can meet their needs.
For more information visit the Specialised School Transport Assistance (SESTA) webpage on the Ministry of Education – For Parents website.
