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• The number of teachers and those in learning support roles will grow by more than 1600 by 2028, Education Minister Erica Stanford will announce this morning.
• Education got a $2.5 billion boost in Budget 2025.
• Much of the money will pay for extra learning support for students with alternative or complex needs.

Full-time equivalent teaching and learning support roles will grow by more than 1600 by 2028, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.

Stanford is speaking on plans for the country’s teaching workforce at Mt Albert Grammar in Auckland this morning.

“We know the most important part of a child’s education is the quality of the teacher in front of them. Developing the workforce of the future is one of my priorities for the education system.

“We want to grow, promote and support the education workforce by backing and strengthening our educators who every day deliver real change in the classroom.”

Stanford’s announcement comes the morning after the Government outlined its spending plans in yesterday’s Budget.

Education got a $2.5 billion boost in Budget 2025, with much of the money going to extra learning support for students with alternative or complex needs.

Education Minister Erica Stanford hugging a student at Mt Albert Grammar, after she received a gift from the school ahead of her announcement of a boost in teacher and learning support staff numbers. Photo / Alyse Wright

The Government says the new funding will build more bespoke classrooms and pair more specialists like speech language therapists and educational psychologists with students who need it.

Hundreds of millions have been earmarked to reform the Ongoing Resources Scheme (ORS) which helps students with the highest needs participate in the classroom.

The Budget boost was the biggest in a generation for learning support after years of “pittance”, Stanford said yesterday.

Extra help for struggling students is a big focus in this year's Budget. Photo / 123rf

Teachers had told her about the pressures of not only having more students, but an increasing number with additional learning needs.

“We don’t have the teacher aide support, the specialist support, the speech language therapists, the educational psychologists that they need. We are now making sure those supports will be available.”

A new Māori education package also includes a training scheme to help teachers learn te reo, which comes after the Government cut a similar $30m scheme last year.

There will also be $33m to expand the School Onsite Training Programme by 530 places over four years and “powering up marketing” to reach more potential teachers in New Zealand and overseas.

More than $50m over three years has been promised to fund approximately 115,000 teacher registrations and practicing certificates.

The Government is also increasing funding for private schools, with $15.7m allocated over the next four years to boost private schools in a bid to support diversity and choice in the education systems, Associate Minister of Education and Act Party leader David Seymour said.

Annual funding for private schools will rise from $41.6m to $46.2m.