A recent NZEI Te Riu Roa survey reveals that the government’s hasty expansion of a learning support service early this year has backfired, leaving fewer younger children with access to early intervention.
Instead of working directly with tamariki and whānau, specialist teachers say they are increasingly bogged down by administrative and coordination tasks.
“My role has shifted significantly towards an advisory and facilitation role, leaving less time for core early intervention work, including regular contact with whānau and Early Childhood Education (ECE) providers,” says Early Intervention Teacher Grant Ramsay.
“There is less focus on early, preventative support, with the shift negatively impacting the depth and effectiveness of my role.”
The Early Intervention Service is a learning support service for children with additional developmental, communications, or behavioural needs. From Term 1 2026, the service was expanded to support children from birth through to the end of Year 1 of school.
The June 2026 survey of around 100 Early Intervention Teachers (EIT) highlights a system under increased strain, with a workforce reporting exhaustion, emotional fatigue, and the burden of a relentless workload.
The key survey findings include:
• Only 62.3% of respondents received training for the expansion, and of those, only 18.8% found it effective. Most described the training as brief, impractical, or inadequate.
• More than a third (37.3%) reported significantly increased workloads following the expansion, with 45.1% struggling or finding it very difficult to manage the extra pressure.
• EITs identified the three main workload drivers as dealing with multiple school roles, huge administrative/reporting requirements, and managing transitions between ECE and school environments.
• 55.7% of cases involve tamariki in ECE and 41.4% involve tamariki in schools
• The key contributors to the increased complexity are schools’ systems and processes (22.5%), a lack of understanding about the role of EITs (20.6%), students’ behavioural needs (18.3%), and expectations around delivering the expanded NZ curriculum (14.3%).
• Respondents reported a significant shift in EIT practice, with a move away from early intervention work in early childhood settings to increased administrative, coordination, workload and greater role ambiguity.
“The service seems to have shifted its focus away from ECE settings, missing the opportunities for early intervention to invest in support that prevents future challenges. Schools continue to come to terms with and navigate EIS as we have become the RTLB service for students to the end of Year 1. There is an expectation that EITs will write ORS applications and secure funding,” says Early Intervention Teacher Jae Te Are.
“We’re forced to limit the innovative approaches that once transformed ECE centres. We’ve become the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff,” says Grant Ramsay.
“There’s less time to focus on cases and more emphasis on paperwork. The workload is overwhelming.”