Learning-support waiting list shrinks by 583 in a year

The number of children waiting for specialist learning support has fallen by 583 in a year.

Ministry of Education figures released under the Official Information Act, and reported by Newstalk ZB, show 4551 children in schools and early childhood centres were on the waiting list in September. A year earlier, 5134 were waiting. The list is about 11% shorter.

The figures come in the first year of implementation of the Government's $750 million learning-support package, announced in Budget 2025. Education Minister Erica Stanford has called it the biggest boost to learning support in a generation, Newstalk ZB reported.

How long a child waits depends on what they need. On average, children waited 86 days for communication services and 79 days for early intervention, which supports children with developmental delays, disabilities or emerging mental health challenges. Behaviour support averaged 61 days. Children who qualify for the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme, which funds students with the highest needs, waited 26 days.

The biggest improvement is in early intervention. Children waiting more than 150 days made up 30% of that list in December 2025 and 12.1% in August this year, the Ministry said. It added that historical waiting lists and backlogs would take time to clear.

Filling specialist jobs is still a problem. Ministry data shows 8% of Government specialist support roles are vacant. Otago/Southland's vacancy rate is 1%, with one vacancy. Wellington has the highest vacancy rate, at 14.4%. That's 29 roles unfilled.

Early childhood services say the new funding hasn't reached them yet. Montessori NZ chief executive Cathy Wilson told Newstalk ZB it had yet to make a noticeable difference for many centres. Some services are paying for extra support out of their own budgets. Some parents are paying for it themselves.

Wilson said one service has 16 children waiting. They might need help with speech and language or behaviour, or be showing signs of autism. Until a specialist arrives, the centre's staff are left to cope. "Teachers aren't trained to be speech therapists," she said.

Berhampore School principal Mark Potter told Newstalk ZB that he and colleagues had seen little change in waiting times over the past year. Some families have to wait just to get on to a waiting list, he said. He called the need for specialists "the biggest hold up".

"I think the OECD average is 14% of children funded [with learning support] and in New Zealand, we are somewhere between 3.5% and 4%," he said.

Potter was president of NZEI Te Riu Roa, the primary teachers' union, until February 2025, according to NZEI.