|
|
|
| Education Minister Announces $30m To Be Put Towards New Classrooms At State Integrated Schools | |
|
Kia ora Gavin, State Integrated Growth Investment (SIGI) Funding Earlier today, the Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced that $30M of Crown funds (allocated at a rate of $7.5M per year for four years) will be allocated to state integrated schools for new growth classrooms. APIS has been in negotiation with the Minister about this funding for the last twelve months and I am grateful to Minister Stanford for prioritising these funds in the 2025/26 budget. It is important to acknowledge her efforts on our behalf in what we know is a very tight fiscal situation. The Minister acknowledged that her government views state integrated schools as an important part of the state education sector and that her government is supportive of choice for parents within the state school provision. Her words of support for our sector were welcomed and appreciated. Minister Stanford also reflected in her media announcement that there continues to be strong demand for places in our state integrated schools and that these funds would provide classrooms for at least an extra 1250 students in our sector. This funding is not a universal fund where every proprietor will be guaranteed to get a share of these funds. The funds will be allocated by the Ministry of Education according to how the proprietor application meets the priorities that will be set by the Minister and her team at the Ministry of Education. The Minister of Education mentioned eligibility and prioritisation criteria which APIS were not aware of before her media statement. Criteria that she articulated as priorities for assessing applications for growth classrooms included attendance, achievement rates, and pressure on the school roll. The Minister mentioned that state integrated schools requesting a high level of donations may be given a lower priority for SIGI funding. This was a surprise but is consistent with some of her conversations with APIS in recent times, where she has expressed her concern regarding state integrated schools which request large donations from their school community. State Integrated Growth Investment (SIGI) funding is not Policy Two funding. SIGI funding will be delivered directly to state integrated school boards who will then retain ownership of these new buildings. This is a different method of funding for growth in state integrated schools and has enabled the Minister to use the Crown’s capital funding to support state integrated school growth aspirations. APIS will now negotiate with the Ministry of Education the various policies, processes and application format that will be needed to ensure these funds are used in our best interests. APIS will now, under urgency, start negotiations with the Ministry of Education on the criteria for assessing applications for SIGI funding and the design of the application form that will be used to apply for these funds. The clock is ticking if our sector is to fully use the $7.5M allocated for the first year in 2025/26. APIS will ensure we continue to update our stakeholders as we progress through these negotiations. Please understand that at this point APIS cannot answer many of the questions that we know you will have regarding the building and ownership of these growth classrooms. Rest assured we are aware of the complexities involved in the allocation of these funds and will work in your best interests with the Ministry of Education to ensure we clarify all the issues and work towards an outcome that will be beneficial for all parties. These SIGI funds are great news for our sector and an acknowledgement from the Crown and the Minister that they have confidence in our ability to provide high quality students outcomes and a proven record of delivering low-cost, high-quality classroom facilities. APIS is very grateful to Minister Stanford for her support. An RNZ article on her announcement can be found here and the Minister’s press release can be found here Ngā manaakitana Dr Kevin Shore, Chief Executive Officer APIS |
|
|
