‘Unusual’: Inside the last-minute back down on homeschooling law change
Saturday, 18 July 2026
Education Minister Erica Stanford's last-minute decision to abandon controversial homeschooling changes triggered a frantic scramble inside the Ministry of Education as it raced to stop legislation due for its final vote that day.
Official Information Act correspondence shows one official described the move as 'uncomfortable' as staff tried to work out the correct process for what they said was an “unusual thing to do”.
Both coalition partners have taken credit for the back down, but emails show the possibility of pulling the pin came late the night before, the same night NZ First told The Post it called Stanford several times.
The Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill was voted through without any public consultation and would have required parents wanting to homeschool their children to meet additional requirements before being approved.
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Emails state the back down followed conversations with coalition partners and public feedback - with growing backlash from the homeschooling community who were worried about how far-reaching the changes could be.
The scramble
At 6:12am the morning of the third reading on May 27, a Ministry of Education policy advisor circulated internal emails raising the possibility that had arisen the night before that the bill might need to be abandoned.
Texts from Stanford reveal she took a call with a person, the name redacted, at 8:49pm the night before.
In the early morning email, the ministry identified the only way to drop the bill was to move a motion to recommit the bill to the Committee of the Whole House for reconsideration for the specific changes.
Just after 9am, officials warned colleagues that the process was “an unusual thing to do,” something that had not been done before, or at least not in recent memory - and they were unsure whether it would work.
“I appreciate this is uncomfortable. Call me any time.”
By 9:09am officials were still trying to work out the correct procedure for stopping the bill.
Minutes later, Stanford’s office said her desire was to get an amendment paper as “plan B” and she needed to know timings, as the Leader of the House was pressing her for an update.
A redacted Parliament email confirmed the plans with the ministry at 10:54am and urgently requested an Amendment Paper by midday to remove all homeschooling changes.
The ministry then sought clarification on the exact changes, asking for a conversation and plan on the decisions.
At 11:56 am, a ministry staffer requested the endorsement of the prime minister on Stanford’s behalf.
At around 4:30pm, Stanford announced to the House the homeschooling section of the bill would be dropped.
Pressure from coalition partners
ACT education spokesperson Laura McClure wrote to Stanford the day before, saying the changes risked treating good parents with suspicion and imposing unreasonable compliance burdens.
ACT said the backdown was a “major victory” with Seymour saying “draconian new restrictions on homeschooling were a mistake, rushed into law at the last minute”.
NZ First leader Winston Peters posted that online meetings with Stanford the evening prior and the morning of resulted in the changes being dropped.
In the House, Stanford said it was feedback from stakeholders, MPs, coalition partners, and those in the education sector that led to the decision to pull the plug.
“[They] show that the issue is more complex than first thought and will now take time to get it right.”
While she still considered it reasonable to have checks that ensure all home-schooled children receive an adequate education, she announced the bill would no longer be progressing.
The Green Party and Labour were also against the homeschooling changes.