Prioritising stronger learning support#

In April 2024, the Minister of Education, Hon Erica Stanford announced 6 priorities for education. One of these priorities is targeting effective learning support interventions for students with additional needs.

The purpose of this priority is to strengthen the learning support system so we can respond better to the needs of learners and their families through evidence-based approaches and targeted investment for equitable educational outcomes.

In May 2025, the Minister of Education released her Budget 2025 package which provides a $746 million investment into learning support to support more learners, meet growing demand, and improve access to high-quality, nationally consistent learning support. You can find out more about the investments made into learning support here.

Learning support

How we will deliver this priority#

The Ministry of Education has developed a work programme to deliver on this priority. Alongside the Budget 25 investment, key features of this work programme include:

• Making operational changes so the system is easier to navigate and improves data collection.
• Creating a data-driven funding model that is focused on delivering high-quality interventions, programmes, and supports.
• Optimising the learning support workforce.
• Building teacher capability to meet diverse learning needs.
• Developing a network plan for specialist and alternative provision.

Background#

Several recent reviews and inquiries have found that, despite significant investment in learning support, many disabled learners and children and young people with learning support needs are not having their needs adequately met by the education system. So many of these children and young people are not achieving equitable educational outcomes.

The Government is pursuing a combined response to these reviews and inquiry. Budget 2025 is the start of this response to focus on strengthening the learning support system through practical changes and effective targeted investment. The work programme for strengthening learning support brings together the Government’s response to, for example:

• direct feedback from the education sector and disability community
• the Highest Needs Review (2021 – 2022)
• the Māori Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into learning support for ākonga Māori (2022)
• ERO’s recent reviews of Alternative Education (2023) and education for disabled learners in early learning and schooling (2022)
• the Concluding Observations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2022).