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Ministry of Education New Zealand

Kia ora koutou

Today’s bulletin provides a high-level summary of the investment in early learning that was announced yesterday as part of Budget 2025.

Budget 2025 invests $2.5 billion in Education over 4 years, and $297.7 million will support the early learning sector and provide additional supports for children during the critical early years of their learning and development. Investment in the early years includes strengthening the Early Intervention Service and extending it from early learning to Year 1 learners, and improving children’s oral language and literacy skills through the ENRICH (Enhancing Rich Interactions) programme.

There is also an uplift to the universal and targeted subsidies, and you will have an opportunity to input into the Early Childhood Education Funding Review.

Budget 2025 also includes decisions to reprioritise funding into areas that will have the greatest impact on outcomes for children. This includes a decision to reinvest funding from disestablishment of the Kāhui Ako Communities of Learning programme. Kāhui Ako roles will be formally disestablished with effect from 28 January 2026. School boards will work through the impact of the changes for Kāhui Ako leaders and teachers that they employ, including early learning teachers.

The investments in education from Budget 2025 will provide better support for children to transition their learning from early childhood to school.

Thank you for the work you do to teach and care for our youngest children.
More information about Budget 2025 investment in Education is available on education.govt.nz and we’ll continue to provide updates in our regular bulletins.

Ngā mihi

Ellen

Major investments in early learning include:#

  • $127.7 million to reduce wait times and meet the growing demand for the EIS
  • $51.1 million for a 0.5% uplift to the universal and targeted subsidies given to the early childhood education sector*
  • $12.4 million to promote children’s oral language development and emerging literacy which includes investment in the ENRICH programme
  • $4.1 million to support the sustainability and data capability of the kōhanga reo network (416 kōhanga reo serving more than 8,500 children). It will also provide the Ministry with more accurate and timely data to drive consistent improvement in achievement and attendance  
  • $ 4.0 million to establish and fund the ongoing costs of a Ministerial Advisory Group to conduct an Early Childhood Education funding review
  • It also includes a 20% increase in funding for Study Awards to grow the EIS specialist workforce, and a funding increase for EIS service providers that have not had a price increase since 2019.

*The Funding Handbook and associated funding rates that reflect this initiative are still in the process of being updated. We expect these to be online no later than the week beginning 3 June. We will alert the sector as soon as this information is published.