$100 million Budget boost for maths support
Monday, 12 May 2025
Education Minister Erica Stanford has announced a $100 million Budget boost for targeted maths support.
“From next year, every child will have their maths ability checked in their first two years of schooling,” she said, saying that part would cost $4m.
“The check will identify students who would benefit from additional support, early on in their schooling journey. Professional development and specialist support will be available to teachers to ensure the checks are used effectively.”
The funding would also cover $56m over four years for 143 new full-time maths intervention teachers “to provide targeted support to children in years 0-6 who are not achieving at curriculum level”.
Then the additional $40m would go toward “targeted, small-group maths tutoring for up to 34,000 year 7–8 students each year from Term 1 2026”.
Stanford said the funding allocation of teachers would be very similar to that of structured literacy.
The announcement was made following today’s Cabinet meeting.
It comes as the Government faces criticism regarding its changes to the Equal Pay Act. Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden last week announced the Government was urgently changing the Equal Pay Act to narrow the claims threshold.
The Government said the old system was too complicated; unions and proponents said it was comprehensive. The bill, passed under urgency less than 36 hours later, dissolved 33 current claims mostly relating to teachers and health workers, and was thought to impact hundreds of thousands of women.
Following the maths announcement, Labour education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime brought the maths announcement back to equal pay.
“Maths is an important aspect of our kids’ education and there should be good resourcing for it. But when you’re asking teachers, who are mostly women, to do more while picking their pockets – what message is National sending our kids?”
The Government is also considering a social media ban on under-16s, despite coalition partner ACT declaring its opposition.
Social media restrictions for under-16s will become part of the Government’s work programme, with Stanford assigned to lead this and bring options to Cabinet.
Days earlier, on Tuesday, Luxon had backed National MP Catherine Wedd in producing a members’ bill that would compel a ban. However, this bill, which is not a Government bill, remains in a ballot of members’ bills and its introduction into the House is uncertain.
On Monday, Stanford said, “social media companies do not give a damn about our kids”.
“You can see that because they don't even let their own kids on those platforms, and they are commercialising the data of our kids and exploiting them, and that needs to stop, because it's causing immense harm.
Luxon said, “the big picture here is that actually our parents, our principals, our teachers, want us to do something about it, and we have restrictions in the physical world, but not in the virtual world, and we owe it to our kids to at least try, at least try to do something, and that's what we're going to do.”
Over the weekend, ACT also formally declared its disagreement with the coalition Government over the firearms registry.
Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner for police has resigned, while an investigation by police was underway.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said Jevon McSkimming had resigned before he could be dismissed, and that a process had been under way to recommend his dismissal to the governor-general. Deputy commissioners of police are appointed by the governor-general on the recommendation of the prime minister.
Air New Zealand has also come under fire for its servicing of regional New Zealand. Air New Zealand has pushed back at the prospect of a market study into domestic flights, suggesting it would be a waste of taxpayer money, ahead of a pre-planned meeting with the Government this week.
But Consumer NZ has urged further transparency and encouraged Air New Zealand to fully open its books.