September 29, 2022
Flexibility for kura in equity funding
Education Minister Chris Hipkins says nearly nine out of 10 schools and kura will get a bump in their funding with the shift from the decile system to equity funding.
The increases range from an average of about $22 per pupil in Taitokerau to $6.25 in Tamaki Makaurau.
The new Equity Index aims to give the Education Ministry better data on which students need extra resources.
Mr Hipkins says there is considerable flexibility about the way schools can use that funding.
“It gives schools a lot more choices around the sorts of things they can do and the sorts of things they can do and the sorts of things they can invest in so in come cases they will increase the number of teachers or teacher aides they have, they will use their operations grant to do that. In other cases they might use it to fund programmes that are specifically designed to provide extra support for those families,” he says.
There’s also an increase in the number of schools eligible for the donations scheme, which is paid if they no longer ask parents for donations, and another 24 schools will be added to the school lunch programme.