Schools divert thousands to support high-need students as demand grows
Hundreds more school-aged children are seeking Government support for severe learning needs – including developing skills usually achieved by toddlers.
Applications for the Government’s highest level of learning support have surged 64% in four years, new Ministry of Education figures show.
There were 2723 applications for the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) last financial year – up from 1660 in 2021/22.
The biggest growth has been among children with either high or very high learning or communication needs, or a combination of both, with 1844 applications under this criterion – more than double the 877 recorded four years earlier.
They also made up a larger share of all applications, rising from just over half in 2021/22 to more than two-thirds last year.
The ministry’s lowest threshold for funding children with learning needs requires a “severe delay in cognitive development”.
“At 5, they are learning skills and developing knowledge usually achieved by children up, but not beyond, 2 and a half years of age,” the criteria says.
Some require significant adaptations to almost all classroom learning, while others need daily support with communication, positioning or personal care.
Those with “very-high” learning needs “need total adaptation of all curriculum content” and are often learning “to wave bye-bye in response” and “smile at a familiar person.”
ORS provides resources to 1-2% of students who require support throughout their school years.
To qualify, children must have extreme or severe learning, hearing, vision, mobility or language needs – or a combination of learning difficulties and two other criteria at a moderate level.
Nearly three-quarters of applicants – 1963 children – were approved last financial year, up from 63.3% in 2021/22.
The ministry said 13,114 students were receiving ORS funding on July 1.
The Government changed ORS to demand-driven funding in Budget 2025, with $122.5 million allocated over four years.
Education Minister Erica Stanford described it as the “largest boost to learning support in a generation”.
But the number of ORS-funded students is already 1014 higher than the Government’s forecast for this year.
And schools say they are still being forced to find their own money to support children whose needs are not being fully met.
At Mount Cook School in Wellington, principal Adrianne McAllister said the school was diverting more than $200,000 from its operational funding to support high-needs students.
The school had seven students receiving ORS funding, but more than 10 others McAllister said needed the same level of intensive support.
“We scrimp and save where we can. We save on property, we don’t upgrade stuff,” McAllister, who is also a NZEI member, said.
NZEI president Ripeka Lessels said removing the cap on ORS funding had helped more children who met the criteria access support.
“If there was only enough money for 10 children, then only 10 children got it, irrespective of how many met the criteria. That’s changed.”
But Lessels said the threshold had not changed and remained “a really, really difficult criteria to get through”.
She said schools could still be left covering some of the cost, even when children qualified for ORS.
McAllister said that was putting significant pressure on staff.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself about not meeting their needs, not being able to resource stuff that they should be entitled to.”
She said principals were increasingly having to spend time finding money and filling gaps, and the Government needed to put more focus on learning support.
“I would like the Minister of Education to seriously think about learning support. Forget about the curriculum and the intense attention on attendance. Actually provide us with resources to provide equity in learning support,” she said.
The ministry’s deputy secretary of learning support, Bridget White, said the rise in ORS applications was being driven by “population growth, greater awareness and identification of needs, and the changing prevalence of more complex neurodevelopmental needs”.
White said the move to demand-driven funding meant every student who met the ORS criteria would receive funded support, regardless of the original Budget forecast.
“The ORS is one of a number of avenues of support for students with learning support needs. Focusing only on the ORS applications does not give the full picture of how students are supported in New Zealand,” she said.
But schools say demand for intensive learning support is still growing.
Lessels said having a teacher aide in every classroom would help address the issue.
For McAllister, the current settings mean making difficult choices about where scarce school funding goes.
“I want to be in classrooms. But we are spending more and more time on admin for this Government than I have ever had to as a principal,” she said.
Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education and general news. She joined Newstalk ZB in 2023 after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.