Education equity — ensuring every New Zealand child has access to quality education regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or disability — is a major policy and funding priority. New Zealand has significant educational inequity, particularly for Māori, Pacific, and low-income students. This guide covers the key funding sources.
MoE is the primary education funder with equity focus:
- Equity funding: Additional resources for schools with high proportions of Māori, Pacific, and low-decile students
- Learning Support: Resource teachers, speech language therapy, and specialist support
- Kura Kaupapa Māori: Māori-medium education funding
- Pacific bilingual programmes: Pacific language education
- Lunches in Schools: Free school lunch programme
Te Puni Kōkiri funds Māori education:
- Kura and Māori-medium: Support for Māori language education
- Māori student achievement: Programmes to reduce Māori educational disparities
- Māori literacy and numeracy: Foundation skills for Māori students
MPP funds Pacific education:
- Pacific education: Community investment in Pacific student achievement
- Pacific language nests: Early childhood Pacific language education
- Pacific parent engagement: Engaging Pacific families in education
Gaming trusts fund education equity:
- Four Winds Foundation: Education equity and community learning
- Grassroots Trust: Community education
- Pub Charity: School resources and community education
- Lion Foundation: Education community grants
Gaming trust education equity applications:
- School stationery and learning materials for low-income families
- After-school tutoring programmes
- Breakfast and lunch programmes
- Library books and technology
- School uniforms for students in need
Lottery Community Wellbeing: Community education and learning equity.
KidsCan addresses education disadvantage:
- School food programmes
- School clothing and shoes
- Rain jackets for students without
- School supply kits
Equity in teaching practice:
- MoE: Culturally responsive teaching
- Te Kura: Correspondence school for isolated students
- NZCER: Educational research and equity
- Ako Aotearoa: Tertiary education quality and equity
Disability and learning support:
- Resource teachers learning and behaviour (RTLB): In-school support
- Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS): High needs student funding
- Whaikaha: Disability support in education
- Sensory services: For vision and hearing impaired students
Chronic absenteeism:
- Social workers in schools: Addressing barriers to attendance
- Community-based attendance: Community support for disengaged students
- MSD: Welfare support enabling school attendance
Strong applications demonstrate:
- Students supported: Numbers by ethnicity, disability, and socioeconomic status
- Achievement outcomes: NCEA, literacy, numeracy improvements
- Equity gap: Reducing gap between Māori/Pacific and NZ European achievement
- Cultural responsiveness: Culturally appropriate teaching and environment
- Attendance: School attendance and engagement
- Wraparound: Addressing food, clothing, and social needs alongside learning
- Whānau: Engaging families in children's learning
- Early intervention: Catching learning difficulties early
Tahua's grants management platform helps education equity organisations manage grant applications across MoE, Te Puni Kōkiri, gaming trusts, and community foundations, tracking student achievement, equity, and educational participation outcomes.