More than 400 schools to access new learning support co-ordinators

Friday, 5 September 2025

More than 400 schools will have access to a new learning support co-ordinator (LSC) next year as the Government moves to address the challenges of an increase in diverse learning needs in classrooms.

LSCs help schools and whānau access additional specialised support for neurodiverse students and those with additional learning needs.

But a Wellington principal says while it will relieve “administrative capacity” for staff, it will not increase support in the classroom for tamariki in need.

And she fears a change in the allocation of LSCs from next year will lead to greater inequity.

On Friday, Education Minister Erica Stanford said the roll-out would begin next year through the Government’s $192 million Budget 2025 investment to ensure all primary and intermediate schools have access to an LSC over three years.

“A dedicated staff member who can screen for common neurodiverse needs like dyslexia and put strategies in place will give teachers more time to focus on what they do next, quality teaching in the classroom,” Stanford said.

From 2026, every region would have 60% access, meaning 101,000 year 1 to 8 students and their teachers at 461 schools would benefit from support provided directly in schools, she said. That would increase to 80% in 2027 and 100% by 2028. It total, it would benefit close to 300,000 students across 1131 schools.

The investment would help reduce inequities to access, with only 18% of students in some regions having access while in other regions it was up to 57%, she said.

“We want every child to reach their full potential, and this transformational investment will help that.”

It would allow schools to identify and respond to student needs sooner, she said.

“Parents, teachers and principals have been crying out for this support. Parents can be confident we are putting their child’s needs at the centre of the education system.

Robyn Brown, principal at Birchville School in Upper Hutt and NZEI Wellington Principal Council Representative, said LSCs did help relieve administrative capacity by helping co-ordinate support for students in need.

“I don’t want to lose one for the other”, she said, but currently “huge amounts of money” went towards ensuring she had teaching assistants in her classrooms.

The present job description precluded LSCs from working with children in classrooms, she said.

In response to a growing diverse need in classrooms, teachers and principals had been calling for years for more teacher aides – if not one in every classroom.

Brown said a full-time LSC would cover three full-time teacher aides on $28.10 an hour.

“I know what I’d opt for; I’d rather do the admin myself and have more support in classrooms.”

Brown was also concerned by the change in allocation of LSCs. While they were currently allocated through Kāhui Ako (Community of Learning), with its disestablishment from next year, Budget 2025 would allocate funding for individual schools to employ their own LSCs, based on a 1:500 student ratio.

It would mean allocation would be based on the number of children rather than need, she said.

At Birchville School, Brown currently had support for 0.5 LSC which was 2½ days, based on her Kāhui Ako group which allocated based on need.

“[That] will go down to 1½ days because of the number of children I have in my school – not by the need I have.”

Brown said the announcement was “a step in the right direction” and every school getting a LSC over three years “is fantastic”.

“But at the end of the day, a lot of principals will say we’ll rather not have a salary increase, as long as we get support in classrooms for children and LSC is not really in-class support.”

Stanford said the Government would be providing funded training and induction for new LSCs in literacy and numeracy, and the use of screening tools. Schools would also be able to choose to combine their part-time staffing entitlements across intervention and LSC roles – “making it easier to recruit and manage resources across their communities”.