Budget 2025: $646 million boost for student learning support
Increased support for students with conditions affecting their learning is the issue schools have called for greater government investment in year after year.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said today that, across different initiatives, the Budget will provide funding for more than an additional 2 million teacher aide hours per year by 2028.
Stand out investments in Budget 2025 include $266 million to extend the Early Intervention Service so Year 1 students can access a range of supports such as speech language therapists and psychologists. The service currently stops when a child turns five. Funding for an additional 560 staff has been provided.
The Ongoing Resource Scheme for students with the highest learning needs in the country has received a cash injection, with $122 million in funding to meet growing demand. Funding has historically been restricted, with access to around 1% of students, though the number has been steadily growing.
Instead of the set funding model, there will now be increases in funding over the next four years. Students who already qualify are expected to receive additional support such as increased teacher aide hours, and an additional 1700 students are expected to qualify in the next four years.
Learning support coordinators will also be supporting all primary and intermediate schools by 2028, with a $192 million investment. The coordinators assess the needs of students and help them access support services. Only one tranche had been rolled out in New Zealand previously, increasing inequity in support among schools.
Contingency funding will also be in place for the construction of 25 learning support classrooms at schools and 365 property modifications at existing schools, with a $90 million investment over four years.
New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa, the primary teacher's union, recently called for an additional $2.5 billion investment in learning support over five years in a report. Its recommendation for professional development for teacher aides has been answered with $3 million in funding between now and 2028.
Primary principals and NZEI have previously called for a teacher aide to be funded for every classroom.
Kāhui Ako – which is funding for schools in a geographical area to become a network that collaborates and shares best practice initiatives and guidance – has been cut, with $375 million over four years instead set to be spent on learning support.
Resource Teacher: Māori and Resource Teacher: Literacy roles have been cut after the Education Minister proposed this earlier this year. Feedback from the sector on this proposal wasn't released publicly before this funding decision was announced. NZEI, affected teachers, and other education leaders called for funding for these support and specialist roles to continue, saying they helped students learn to read and supported Māori staff to deliver the curriculum and assess student learning.
Less money has been spent on Associate Education Minister David Seymour's charter school reintroduction than was set aside in last year's Budget. Around $4 million will be spent in education elsewhere.
Apart from the Resource Teacher: Māori roles, the Wharekura Expert Teachers role has also been disestablished. The Māori Education package of $36.1 million has been redirected into other Māori education initiatives such as the curriculum and support for teachers to develop Te Reo Māori skills.
A further $36.1 million allocated for 2023 Māori education collective bargaining settlements has been reprioritised. The Budget summary states this contingency funding was overestimated.
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