A tale of two colleges, and the upside-down ‘equity’ formula
Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Alwyn Poole is an education consultant and commentator.
OPINION: I was recently asked a question that I did not immediately know the answer to.
The person asking the question understood the indisputable evidence that there is absolutely no doubt that a child from a home with low education outcomes of the parents, only one parent in the home, a family history of welfare dependance, low relative income, exposure to violence and neglect, having very few positive role models or obvious pathways to development will struggle to achieve in our education system – and find life difficult from then on.
This is not excuse making - it simply acknowledges that some young people pull themselves up by their boot-laces, but many do not.
Our Government’s response to this situation is through providing an equity index number - EQI (it used to be “deciles”) to our school system. The schools with more “at risk” students, through the issues mentioned above, are, theoretically, provided with more funding to address that situation and bring about fairness and a ladder to success and social transformation.
When I was challenged on this, I submitted an official information request specifically about how much extra funding a high EQI school receives compared to a low EQI school. My expectation was that it would be substantial.
The more specific you are with OIAs the more likely it is that you will receive an accurate response. I asked about the differential funding for Flaxmere College v Wellington Girls’ College. Wellington Girls’ College has an EQI of 374. What that means is that they have few students that the Ministry of Education would consider “at risk”. It also means that they get no marginal funding for that aspect. In terms of academics, Wellington Girls College is New Zealand’s top achieving purely state school.
Flaxmere College has an EQI of 564. This is the highest in New Zealand and means that they have the most “at risk” students.
The OIA response informed me Flaxmere College receives $262,720 of marginal funding per year as the highest EQI school in NZ.
To provide perspective: this is a 2.14% addition to the funding level any high school in New Zealand receives. It works out at less than $5 per student per day.
The EQI funding for Flaxmere College to help their 280-plus students is much less than the Minister of Education’s salary and is 39% of the secretary for education’s salary. Surely this is a highly skewed take on the value of any individual?
Low EQI schools, such as Wellington Girls’ College, can ask for donations. Theirs is $805 per year. Auckland Grammar School asks for $1775. These amounts completely counter any extra EQI funding for the Flaxmere Colleges of NZ (without even considering contributions from past students). Flaxmere receives $150 per student for being in the “donations scheme”.
In terms of other income opportunities, Wellington Girls’ College has over 60 international students. Flaxmere has none.
If EQI funding was effective – in a public school system that aims to lift all students – you would expect to see results a lot closer than below.
Is it any wonder that New Zealand’s gaps for those who achieve and those who do not are the highest in the OECD.
The Ministry of Education has as their purpose statement: “To shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.”
It should alarm our nation that we are as far from the stated ideal as it is possible to be.
While we are confronted with debating the “curriculum” and qualifications pathways of our education system, we must keep front and centre that the point of a public education system is to provide high-quality opportunities for all students.
We are deeply failing.