NZEI Te Riu Roa is calling on all political parties in the run-up to the 2026 General Election to prioritise closing New Zealand's socio-economic gap and addressing child poverty, following today's publication of the latest PISA results.
Socioeconomic status accounts for an 11.1% variance in New Zealand’s science performance, continuing New Zealand's ongoing issue with very large variance in student outcomes relative to other OECD countries.
“While modest gains in science and stable results in maths and reading compared with PISA 2022 results are welcome, the 11.1% variance in science performance that is linked directly to socioeconomic status shows how urgently we need to bridge the equity gap,” NZEI Te Riu Roa President Ripeka Lessels said.
The achievement gap between the most socio-economically advantaged students (top quarter) and the most disadvantaged (bottom quarter) in New Zealand is 89 score points in science. Under PISA measurements, 20 points equals roughly one year of learning, which means disadvantaged students lag their peers by about four and a half years of schooling.
Apart from the equity gap exposed by PISA, schools are also grappling with a huge unmet need in learning support – an issue NZEI Te Riu Roa has long advocated for.
According to the latest Household Disability Survey, 38 per cent of disabled students under 14 years old are not receiving the teacher aide or resource teacher support they require. Around 48,000 or 51 per cent of disabled children enrolled at school have an unmet need for essential learning support, including specialist teachers, health professionals at school, assistive technology, or accessible building features.
“NZEI Te Riu Roa has long advocated for an equitable, well-resourced public education system where all tamariki can thrive,” Mrs Lessels said. “More investment in our children and in our classrooms is a vital step to increase student success.”
In its Platform for Change 2026, the education union is calling for cross-party commitments to five key actions over the next five years to boost the quality of teaching and learning for tamariki:
- Funding a teacher aide in every class
- Investing in quality early childhood education
- Valuing educators better
- Upholding Te Tiriti in the curriculum and wider education system, and
- Creating an independent Curriculum and Assessment Council.