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Budget 2008: Education

The Labour-led government believes that investing in young kiwis is the best way to secure opportunity and prosperity in the future. That’s why in Budget 2008 we are increasing schools operating grants, investing in 762 more teachers, 9 new schools, smaller class sizes, more technology, 130 new classrooms, and more.

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This government continues to invest in education so our young people can successfully meet the challenges of the 21st Century.

In the past year the Labour-led government’s commitment to quality, public education has included:

The introduction of 20 Hours Free early childhood education.

The introduction of free ‘B4 School’ health checks for 3-4 year olds who are about to start school. These voluntary checks will identify any health, behavioural, social, or developmental concerns which could affect a child's ability to learn, for example a hearing problem or communication difficulty.

Budget 2008 builds on these initiatives:

Schools get an increase of $171.6 million over four years in Operations Grant funding, a 5 percent increase which includes $65.3 million over four years to help meet the cost of Information Communications Technology (ICT).
New funding for new entrants class sizes to be reduced to a ratio of one teacher per 15 students. Smaller class sizes mean each child gets more attention, and workloads are decreased for teachers.

$74.7 million to build nine new schools, 130 new classrooms and to modernise existing school property. In a modern education system, school buildings themselves are an extension of the learning experience.

OTHER REGIONS +NORTHERN