Budget 2026 provides $136.9 million operating expenditure (opex) over 4 years for 12 components to further strengthen maths and literacy teaching and learning. This is part of achieving the Government’s target of 80% of students at curriculum level by 2030.

Summary of initiatives#

• $29.7 million for the establishment and initial trial of Maths hubs, hands-on maths equipment for every Year 0 to 8 classroom, a new times table and division check, an additional 36 full-time equivalent teachers for targeted maths support.
• $38.7 million provides writing and tuhituhi workbooks for over 130,000 students in Years 4 to 5 and a universal digital writing tool that will benefit over 200,000 students in Years 6 to 8 each year.
• $19.4 million will fund Structured literacy and decodables for older readers, an end of Year 2 literacy check, an accelerated literacy | te reo matatini programme, and a new effective literacy | te reo matatini teaching programme for Years 0 to 10 to embed effective literacy practices aligned to the new curriculum.
• $43.5 million to provide professional learning and development for smarter data use by school leaders, and high-impact explicit teaching practices that deepen students' learning.
• $5.6 million for music instruments into state and state-integrated schools and kura with Year 0 to 8 students to assist in the delivery of the refreshed  Arts and Toi Ihiihi curriculum.

Maths and literacy support#

• $131.3 million opex
• $0.3 million capex

This initiative funds 12 components to further strengthen maths and literacy teaching and learning.

Maths hub pilot#

Establish and trial 3 maths and pāngarau hubs as centres of excellence to promote high-quality delivery of the mathematics and statistics learning area (Years 0 to 10).

Maths kits to every class in Years 0 to 8#

Maths and pāngarau teaching kits designed to bring the new curricula to life for all Year 0 to 8 classrooms nationwide. 

A times table and division check within SMART#

Implement a times table and division check for the end of Year 5 within Student Monitoring and Assessment Tool (SMART) to analyse student proficiency in multiplication and division, allowing teachers to identify gaps early, target instruction and monitor progress over time.

Maths and pāngarau support#

Provide an additional 36 maths and pāngarau full-time equivalents teachers (FTTE). This will increase the level of resourcing from 143 to 179 FTTE.

PLD for high-impact pedagogies#

PLD to help teachers of students in Years 0 to 10 apply high-impact pedagogies in maths, literacy, pāngarau and te reo matatini.

PLD for smarter data use aimed at school and kura leaders#

PLD for school and kura leaders of students from Years 0 to 10 so they can build their capability and confidence to use achievement data.

Structured literacy decodables and readers#

• Decodable readers for students in Years 3 to 10 who need additional support to strengthen their reading skills. 
• Age-appropriate decodables will be supplied in English and te reo Māori (aligned to Rangaranga Reo ā-Tā), so students can practise reading using texts that match their decoding level.

Universal writing resources for Years 4 to 10#

• Workbooks for Years 4 to 5 students containing structured models, planning templates, vocabulary prompts and practice tasks to help students organise their ideas and strengthen sentence-level skills.
• A universal digital writing tool for Years 6 to 10 to give every student a single, structured space to plan, draft and revise their writing.

Expanding the maths and pāngarau acceleration programme to include Years 9 and 10#

The programme delivers targeted teaching and structured practice to help students quickly close gaps and reach expected curriculum levels.

End of Year 2 literacy | te reo matatini check#

The check will identify whether learners who have secure early decoding skills are beginning to take meaning from texts at the expected level by the end of Year 2, enabling early support before any gaps widen.

Accelerated literacy | te reo matatini programme #

Development of a programme to provide short-term, high-impact, targeted reading and writing support for Years 3 to 10 enabling them to reengage with classroom learning at the expected level.

Effective literacy | te reo matatini teaching programme#

• Development of an effective literacy | te reo matatini programme for Years 0 to 10 to enable a consistent, evidence-informed approach to teaching reading and writing.
• This will include video exemplars that show effective, reading instruction in classroom settings, as well as full facilitation packages to support newly trained literacy curriculum leads.

Music kits for Years 0 to 8#

• $5.6 million opex

The funding will provide music instruments to state and state-integrated school and kura with Year 0 to 8 students to assist in the delivery of the refreshed Arts and Toi Ihiihi curriculum.

Music kits with an average value of $2,000 will be provided to around 2,160 eligible schools and kura.

Schools can acquire musical instruments that complement the expertise of their staff and the instruments they already have.