Erica Stanford says this year’s Budget will focus on secondary school achievement, hinting it will mirror the way primary schools have been funded during her time as education minister.
There is optimism in the education sector ahead of the Budget, but it may do little to soothe concerns around the significant reforms currently underway.
Stanford’s first Budget as education minister focused on “teaching the basics brilliantly”, while last year saw an emphasis on learning support. This year, secondary schools should feel the love.
Although education has not been in the limelight as much as in previous years, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has said it will continue to be one of the essential services the Government is prioritising.
Secondary schools are in the middle of major curriculum and qualification reforms, following this year’s announcement that the current NCEA qualification would be replaced by the New Zealand Certificate of Education for year 12 and the New Zealand Advanced Certificate of Education for year 13.
Stanford tells Newsroom the Government’s track record of the work done in primary schools – including new curriculums, new assessment methods, new teaching practice, accompanied with investment in resources and professional learning development – is a good indication of what is to come for secondary schools.
The younger students and schools haven’t been left out, although a pre-Budget announcement of $131 million to support literacy and maths achievement for students in years 0 to 10 may have come as a bit of surprise, she says.
“But it is always important that we continue to invest in that foundational learning as well, especially in those intermediate areas.”
As one example, a new digital tool to build writing skills and fluency will ensure young people are able to communicate their ideas well before they get to high school.
“This has to be ongoing every single year – more resources, more professional learning and development, more tools for young people to get them where they need to be, and you’ll see this from us year after year after year.”
Asked how she thinks the education sector will respond to the Budget, Stanford says: “I don’t want to suppose how they will feel … but all of the things that they have been asking for in terms of support, we will be addressing and it will match very closely to what we’ve done in primary school”.
This month, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced the Budget would include $212.4m of funding for the Healthy School Lunches and early childhood food programmes to cover the 2026/27 year, saving $122m.
Meanwhile, in a “Budget leak” by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters later confirmed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis, it was also revealed the fees-free university scheme would be scrapped with the intention of redirecting at least some funding to trades training.
Human resource versus material resource
Post Primary Teachers’ Association president Chris Abercrombie says teachers are always hopeful to see the Government fund the sector “properly”.
But Abercrombie is concerned the education minister is not listening to the sector but only “a select few voices – and we will see that in the Budget”.
With substantial change coming for secondary schools, the sector wants significant investment in professional learning development to be able to implement the changes.
The PPTA has also released a report revealing schools’ operational funding has not kept up with inflation, reaching a gap of nearly 12 percent in the past five years.
While increases to operational grants, funding learning resources, learning support, administration and routine building maintenance had kept pace with inflation between 2011 and 2021, the money has since fallen behind.
The PPTA has called for an urgent adjustment to this year’s operational grant of at least 5 to 12 percent – but ideally more – to tackle some of the shortfall.
Support for students with specific learning needs is also high on the priority list.
Aotearoa Education Collective spokesperson Liam Rutherford says the sector is in need of greater funding of people, rather than material support.
“It feels like lots of the current direction of travel in education is giving teachers more textbooks or workbooks and I think what we’re hearing from people, time and time again, is that actually what they want are more pairs of hands.
“That’s because teachers know that the real way that we go about raising outcomes for learners is by being able to increase the amount of time teachers spend with individual students.”
Its recent survey found in-class support and learning assistance was one of the biggest challenges that educators think needs to be addressed in the Budget.
Another common concern was around the pace and scope of recent curriculum change being unsustainable, and the need for better support, with student mental health and wellbeing services also listed high among priorities.
Respondents said they would like to see funding reprioritised from the Ministry of Education’s management overheads, back-office consultants and overseas providers; the ministry is exempt from the pre-Budget Government announcement to make further cuts to the public sector by 8700 jobs.
They also called for reprioritising of funding from new measures like the SMART assessment tool.
Although it isn’t “sexy putting money into maintenance”, funding for further school property maintenance can be expected, while Industry Skill Boards will also likely be seeing funding to develop up to eight vocational subjects.
Meanwhile, priorities in the early childhood sector vary.
Parts of the early childhood education sector, representing mostly for-profit services, have been campaigning for a 5 percent increase in funding this year (although Seymour has already indicated this is not something he would support.)
The Early Childhood Council says government funding has not kept up with inflation and centres have reached a “crisis point”, leading to closures.
But Dr Sarah Alexander, chief advisor at the Office of Early Childhood Education, says sector lobbyists’ fears of widespread shutdowns after a 0.5 percent subsidy increase in last year’s Budget have not eventuated.
New data shows the sector remains comparatively stable, Alexander says. In 2025, 79 ECE licences were cancelled and 75 new licences were recorded.
But she is concerned about cost-cutting measures introduced to address tough economic conditions.
“The sector does not need a big funding boost to paper over problems. What it needs is for the Government to reverse the policy settings that are driving down safety and quality settings that make it easier for services to stay profitable, but harder for children to thrive.”
