2,421 schools to receive more funding to help raise achievement

The Ministry has also advised 2,421 of these schools and kura of their funding, for 2017, from an extra $12.363 million to help more of their most disadvantaged students to succeed.

In Budget 2016, responding to requests from the education sector for more funding for students at greatest risk of underachievement, the Government allocated an extra $43 million over four years in targeted funding. This funding was to be allocated to schools, depending on the number of students they had, as at 1 July 2016, on their rolls from a long-term welfare-dependent background.

Working with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), we have identified over 133,000 students aged from 5 to 18 whose schools are eligible for the extra funding. In 2017 the 2,421 eligible schools will get over $90 per student in targeted funding for every student they had, as at 1 July 2016, from a long-term welfare background.

Students with these backgrounds were chosen as the target group because they are a group that is known to be at higher risk of educational underachievement, and because we were able to implement data matching arrangements in time to deliver funding for the 2017 school year.

The $12.34 million in extra funding for schools in 2017 equates to roughly the same as a 1% operations grant for all schools. The difference is that, in 2017, the increase is targeted to schools with students that we know need extra help the most. By comparison, had we provided an across-the-board 1% operations grant increase to all schools, this would have amounted to no more than $16 per student.

Schools can use the targeted funding to help raise achievementfor all their students in ways they think best – not just those from welfare-dependent backgrounds.

The amount of targeted funding a school receives varies, depending on their number of eligible students. For example, 1,582 schools receive up to $5,000 in additional funding; 505 receive between $5,000 and $10,000, and 334 receive between $10,000 and $64,000. Only 15 schools do not receive a share of the new targeted funding increase.

In general, low decile schools and regions where achievement needs to improve benefit most from the targeted funding. This is to be expected. Almost all schools however, have some students at risk of educational underachievement. This explains why almost all school receive some targeted funding.

As far as the $1.346 billion in operations grant funding is concerned, it is not unusual for the amount to vary, year on year, for a school. Changes, especially a variation in a school’s roll, can alter funding up or down.

Operations grant funding for a school can be adjusted between now and April 2017, depending on any further roll, or other, changes in their circumstances. Schools with concerns about their initial operational grant allocation have plenty of time to work with the Ministry to finalise their funding for the 2017 school year.