Budget 2021: The details for schools

Early eduation and teritary education aside, here are Thursday’s Budget figures on specific initiatives aimed at schools in detail.

$266m for the next phase of the National Education Growth Plan: This funding will build an additional 6,000 student places and design a further 4,000. This is in addition to the 47,000 student places already funded. Funding will deliver new roll growth classrooms, provision for learning support and the design for new schools and expansions.

$150m for school property redevelopments: Around 25 school redevelopments are funded to enter construction sooner, ensuring learners have access to warm modern and safe learning facilities.

$17.1m Opex and $56m Capex to continue the Christchurch schools rebuild programme: The 2018 midpoint review identified additional resourcing would be required to complete the CSR, due to cost increases. The $56m is a further year of funding for the CSR. As at 31 March 2021, 64 school projects have been completed, 21 are in construction, 28 are in various stages of planning and design, and two are yet to enter the programme.

$185m for the reform of Tomorrow’s Schools: The reform is designed to increase support available to principals and teachers, providing new supports and services to schools and early learning through a new ‘education service agency’, as part of a redesigned te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga – Ministry of Education.

The Education Service Agency will include the National Curriculum Centre to ensure teachers have the best curriculum supports available to them in a modern and accessible way. A Curriculum Centre within the ESA includes:

• Developing new resources and supports for Aotearoa New Zealand Histories.
• Refresh the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa
• New Online Curriculum Hub that will replace Te Kete Ipurangi and host Kauwhata Reo
• Digital records of learning in schools and kura
• Improving learning resources through the NCEA Change Programme.
  • Directly investing in teacher capability and resourcing for the incorporation of Te Reo Māori and Te Ao Māori.
  • Working with teachers to make NCEA more accessible through refocus on fewer, larger standards within coherent courses.
  • A simpler NCEA structure that is more accessible for teachers, and assistance for to schools to review local curriculum and integrate new standards.

The reforms also include a stronger focus on network planning to strengthen the Māori medium pathway. We have developed network information to support planning to ensure our future education system is more responsive to meeting the needs, aspirations and learning pathways of whānau, iwi and Māori communities.

$92.5m for the NCEA Change Programme: The NCEA Change Programme is redeveloping the entire NCEA qualification, based on a year-long public engagement in 2019.

The changes include:

• New literacy and numeracy standards
• Mana ōrite mō te mātauranga Māori
• Refreshed subject lists with revised assessments
• Better support for vocational pathways

More information on the NCEA Change Programme is available on the NCEA website.

What is the NCEA Change Programme

$90.05m for a cost adjustment to the operational grant for schools: The cost adjustment, set at 1.6%, is intended to help meet the rising costs schools face, which include both inflation and staffing costs. All state and state-integrated schools receive the cost adjustment, supporting the learning of approximately 800,000 students. New rates will take effect from January 2022. A list of the rates for the 2022 school year will shortly be available on the Ministry of Education’s Operational Funding rates page.

$50m for essential property maintenance at state-integrated schools: This funding is targeted specifically at property upgrades in state-integrated schools, enabling them to improve their learning environments. The approach will be based upon the successful School Investment Package for state schools.

The Government has a goal of all schools having access to quality learning environments by 2030. This initiative supports integrated schools to accelerate upgrade works in support of this goal. The Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools (APIS) will allocate funding out to schools, upon application, to ensure the projects are within scope, well-targeted, and will be delivered in a timely manner

$18m Opex and $4.9m Capex for the Equity Index: This funding is to build the system changes and other implantation costs to support replacing the decile system with the equity index from the 2023 school year, subject to future Budget decisions.

$12.6m to continue digital access for Principals and Teachers: This funding helps provide devices for teachers and principals, to maintain online learning opportunities for students. Additional licences for online services and extensions to existing licences will also be funded. The funding will also ease the costs to schools and kura that cannot provide devices through their technology budget.

$11.6m to expand Reading Together Te Pānui Ngātahi and Duffy Books in Homes: This funding will improve literacy and wellbeing outcomes for over 73,000 children across New Zealand by giving 37,000 parents effective strategies to support their children as they learn to read and providing books for children in their homes.