$2.5b Investment Needed To Stop Tamariki Sitting On Learning Support Wait Lists

The Government needs to invest $2.5 billion in learning support services by 2030 to stop children in need sitting on learning support waiting lists, education union NZEI Te Riu Roa says.

Kia Mahi Kotahi: Working Together Learning Support Workforce Plan, a five year investment plan for children needing support for their learning published today, says Education Minister Erica Stanford will only reach her achievement targets of 80% of year 8 students at or above the expected curriculum level for their age in reading, writing and maths if she tackles long-standing underinvestment in learning support.

The report, which draws on years of government reviews and evaluations, as well as input from the union’s large membership of educators, recommends $2.4 million is immediately invested in Budget 2025 to fill vacant Ministry of Education roles. It also says immediate investment is needed to grow the number of early intervention teachers, education support workers, psychologists, occupational therapists, special education advisers, and speech language therapists.

"The last major review for our learning support system, the Highest Needs Review, conducted between 2021 and 2023 by the previous government, identified that for every seven students receiving support, three have unmet needs,” the report says.

“No amount of ‘rearranging of the deck chairs’ by reallocating existing staffing and resourcing is going to fix deep seated issues in the capacity and capability of our system. Significant new investment is needed to transform it into a fully inclusive system.”

2024 data obtained by NZEI Te Riu Roa showed children under five waiting six months to access the Early Intervention Service in some regions, which has huge impacts on their learning and oral literacy.

Conor Fraser, a speech language therapist and member of the NZEI Te Riu Roa governance group, says it is heartbreaking to see long waiting times for children in need of support.

“Long waiting lists make already difficult issues even harder for tamariki and their whānau. We need to be able to provide a quality service quickly.”

Minister Stanford has promised Budget 2025 will be a learning support budget.

Kia Mahi Kotahi recommends increasing dedicated teacher aide funding to put a teacher aide in every classroom by 2029. The report says this would take a $63 million per annum investment from Budget 2025 on.

The report also recommends an increase in the numbers of learning support co-ordinators, resource teachers of literacy and resource teachers of Māori. This comes after Minister Stanford proposed defunding resource teachers of literacy and resource teachers of Māori. She is currently considering feedback on the proposal.

Fraser says she looks forward to the Budget in May when she expects to see a large, overdue investment in learning support.

Click here to read the report: Kia Mahi Kotahi: Working Together, Learning Support Workforce Plan.

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