---
title: "PF035 · Captured AI answers"
publisher: "Onsomble Limited"
publication: "NZBrands.ai"
edition: 3
collected_on: "2026-10-16"
html_url: "https://nzbrands.ai/research/nz-election-2026/editions/3/questions/263efc2f-9e6d-483e-956b-0f8e7466a040/"
---

# PF035 · Captured AI answers

Edition 3 · answers collected 16 October 2026.

[Read on NZBrands.ai](https://nzbrands.ai/research/nz-election-2026/editions/3/questions/263efc2f-9e6d-483e-956b-0f8e7466a040/)

## Question

I have a school-age child who needs additional learning support. Getting suitable help at school is my main concern, and I sometimes reduce paid work to care for them. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What are the parties proposing about learning support, specialist staff and support for children with additional needs?

Question ID: 263efc2f-9e6d-483e-956b-0f8e7466a040. Report reference: PF035.

Issue: Education and childcare. Voter: Parent seeking learning support at school.

[Source record (JSON)](https://nzbrands.ai/data/nz-election-2026/editions/3/answers/263efc2f-9e6d-483e-956b-0f8e7466a040.json)

## How to read this evidence

The answers below are shown as the assistants gave them, not a verified account or NZBrands.ai voting advice. They may contain errors or outdated claims. A recorded source association is not necessarily a link shown to the reader.

Captured 16 October 2026. 4 answers were saved for this question. Missing answers have not been filled in.

[Study methodology and limitations](https://nzbrands.ai/research/nz-election-2026/editions/3/method.md)

## ChatGPT · asked nationally

Answer ID: 46b20f73-b263-4943-8f09-65dd0da8b03b. Captured 16 October 2026.

**Begin captured answer — shown as given, not verified**

# New Zealand 2026 election: learning support and children with additional needs

For your family, the key question is not just whether a party promises better education. It is whether its policies would help your child get the right support at school, from specialist staff, and consistently enough that you do not have to reduce your paid work to fill the gaps.

There are several distinct areas worth comparing as you consider your vote:

- Learning support at school: access to teacher aides, learning support coordinators, specialist teachers and individualised assistance.
- Specialist services: access to educational psychologists, speech-language therapists, occupational therapists and other relevant professionals.
- Funding and eligibility: whether more children qualify for help, whether support is available earlier, and whether schools have enough resources to deliver it.
- Support for families: respite, disability-related assistance, caregiver support and the financial consequences of providing unpaid care.
- Accountability: whether a party promises measurable improvements in waiting times, staffing, funding or access to support.

An important distinction is that a policy announcement, a funded commitment and an existing government service are not the same thing. I'll distinguish published proposals from measures already in place, and flag where a party's position needs confirmation rather than assuming it has made a promise.

## 1. What the parties are proposing

The following is a comparison of the major parties' published positions available as of 15 October 2026. The most concrete school-specific commitments currently visible are National's new education pledges; some other parties have more detail on disability rights, family support or inclusive education than on specific school staffing numbers.

### National

![Will National Party Finish 2nd in New Zealand's 2026 Election?](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/LCDs4P76HEgfCayafHeSga8GCw12Vxs2fPc3toeyLUZ-wmb6UiGRZY6bhdT1xRejtICfUd6GX2BWmI76EkpoWuffTU4g32bP_qUJp29rsfn5_Zvj5THHSYTLHSoo_5_YQyZ3zKE1WIpB4bu7raRltFl5TZFCgCcE0quf_GohkFI?purpose=inline)

Main focus: additional school-based support and early identification

National has committed to:

- Providing Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) in all schools with Years 1–8 students by 2028.
- Building to two million additional teacher-aide hours per year from 2028, with training to support children with behavioural, emotional and neurodiverse needs.
- Expanding the Early Intervention Service and introducing a School Start Check to identify developmental needs before children begin school. [Teaching the basics brilliantly](https://www.national.org.nz/policies/education-teaching-the-basics-brilliantly)[Teaching the basics brilliantly](https://www.national.org.nz/policies/education-teaching-the-basics-brilliantly)

What to check: how quickly your child's school would receive staff, how teacher-aide hours would be allocated, and whether specialist waiting times would fall.

These are commitments for the next term, rather than services that are necessarily available to every child today. National's separate disability policy is less comprehensive than its education pledges. [Disability Policies of NZ Political Parties](https://deafblindassociation.nz/disability-policies-of-nz-political-parties/)[Teaching the basics brilliantly](https://www.national.org.nz/policies/education-teaching-the-basics-brilliantly)

### Labour

![South Island Election Conference 2026](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/_spFKDBqOMVPoo8r35YLoGFwljs_-WWe4ur9fdZCfekzAxaUPGA75u8rI9uxOUTssI2hUZN1r4Zu1AeDrcNaxz3uHoFIyWjDpanT5s-KJ87QzxSu1uNjNL4MOHSuazRZuTy_TzC6aN4wxHHoyU_DhzMFuMCMjNBTtg2xRxOZL6c?purpose=inline)

Main focus: evidence-led education and disability rights

Labour's published 2026 education announcements emphasise a more stable curriculum, expert oversight of curriculum and assessment, and a pause on some curriculum changes that have not yet been implemented. Its disability position includes a commitment to repeal the Government's proposed disability support legislation and work with disabled people and disability organisations to design replacement legislation. [Release: Labour to give parents confidence in their children’s education](https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-labour-to-give-parents-confidence-in-their-children-s-education/)[Disability Policies of NZ Political Parties](https://deafblindassociation.nz/disability-policies-of-nz-political-parties/)

What to check: whether Labour will commit to specific additional teacher-aide hours, more educational psychologists and speech-language therapists, and clear delivery dates for school-based support.

Labour has a record of expanding learning support and the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) while in government, but that historical record should not be confused with a new, fully specified 2026 staffing commitment. [Disability Policies of NZ Political Parties](https://deafblindassociation.nz/disability-policies-of-nz-political-parties/)[Labour's 2026 Election Policies](https://www.labour.org.nz/policy)

### Green Party

![Green Party NZ (@NZGreens) on X](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/xwoeA3rTn5Pu0UL1uRc6X_g8ADsfUTe55rxQEjXC_rnFR_6TPTr_9eG0LsowNOdFRtax24qB8h-LRfUtZEf42T0CC5OclOZ5katbFJAYxs0cZRyqDBlGNgF_8AV_5WTCbYonGIqLGuK095lLGrkBVw3L8vdsA06tLHVNuCJquuc?purpose=inline)

Main focus: inclusive education, disability rights and access to support

The Greens support fully funded inclusive education, expanded learning support including ORS, and reforms intended to improve access to disability-related services. Their wider disability platform emphasises individual choice, removing barriers to participation and strengthening enforceable accessibility standards. [Disability Policies of NZ Political Parties](https://deafblindassociation.nz/disability-policies-of-nz-political-parties/)[Election 2026](https://www.anzasw.nz/election-2026-policy-tracker/)

What to check: the specific staffing increases, funding commitments and timeframes they would guarantee for mainstream schools.

The Greens' published direction is relevant if you are concerned about whether your child can participate fully in ordinary school life, but broad support for inclusion does not itself guarantee a particular level of one-to-one assistance. [Disability Policies of NZ Political Parties](https://deafblindassociation.nz/disability-policies-of-nz-political-parties/)[Election 2026](https://www.anzasw.nz/election-2026-policy-tracker/)

### ACT

![New Zealand Legislative Election Winner 2026 Odds | Polymarket](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/jofoEEdOXv6HOQzupGnQLgXlZKKPYTzvN6g4IUMlN6xdqX4l_qH5-Y0A3to5ytO5w95eGsg-WLInlnku5FmW0VEyKqhTiAqcZSbr_Z1e_uNyqacdq4zniDKhRNRugVUCsz1-CYpZeG4nO7sLuQKEQlQMBgJCAoyH3nC76yYHd6E?purpose=inline)

Main focus: standards, school choice and accountability

ACT's education platform emphasises core academic standards, reporting, greater freedom for schools and alternative schooling options, including charter schools. Its published 2026 education commitments include school-uniform affordability and access to rural school buses. [ACT New Zealand](https://www.act.org.nz/policies/education)[ACT New Zealand](https://www.act.org.nz/policies/education)

What to check: whether ACT would increase learning-support staffing and specialist services, and how it would ensure that children with additional needs receive support across different school types.

ACT has not set out a comparably detailed, standalone disability programme in the material reviewed. Its broader approach emphasises choice and spending accountability, but those principles alone do not establish what support a particular child would receive. [Disability Policies of NZ Political Parties](https://deafblindassociation.nz/disability-policies-of-nz-political-parties/)[ACT New Zealand](https://www.act.org.nz/policies/education)

### New Zealand First

![New Zealand legislative election winner? Predictions & Od... 2026 | Polymarket](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/UmXClDd76aKEk_XyXfEEacFBHXO18HFMG1Im-weRm7tb64uGzBsRK3vWPXuiFN2zaWaNznb7eSDIJucKOhlXtwb6Lq-BYR6oxisKzHsWTxF5AsiLmtcNGDNtwCsXzgIuSp2vW4pa6pAda-tTriG23zKX1ZuknQ81HGh411pqRkM?purpose=inline)

Main focus: general public services and accessibility

New Zealand First introduced an Accessibility Standards Bill in July 2026, aimed at identifying and removing barriers that restrict participation in education, employment and public services. [Establishing an Accessible New Zealand for everyone](https://www.nzfirst.nz/establishing_an_accessible_new_zealand_for_everyone)

What to check: whether the party has specific commitments for teacher aides, specialist educators, ORS funding and school-based therapy services.

The party's published disability position is less detailed on school-specific learning support than its accessibility proposal. An accessibility framework and additional classroom staffing are different policy questions. [Disability Policies of NZ Political Parties](https://deafblindassociation.nz/disability-policies-of-nz-political-parties/)[Establishing an Accessible New Zealand for everyone](https://www.nzfirst.nz/establishing_an_accessible_new_zealand_for_everyone)

### Te Pāti Māori

![Te Pāti Māori (@Maori_Party) on X](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/C5Ox0A8wvQUsFP-VtrWHKeP6-Ic8fMiqzR6fwTgVCI89BKZ4qO15KWhfgO_hkPhb4uzHIlIf-m8iVIOtE_n3dpm6XeT-XUHl8WsSwbHDpd9cuMseVa0f8XdYoGqbDr3pWVTJaDg048Pdof6_HhRKAR523Vju5XF4tug9-I_6qlg?purpose=inline)

Main focus: Māori-led services and inclusive education

Te Pāti Māori's disability approach centres tāngata whaikaha Māori (Māori disabled people), whānau hauā (disabled whānau) and Māori self-determination. Its broader position supports culturally grounded, inclusive education and Māori-led approaches to disability services. [Disability Policies of NZ Political Parties](https://deafblindassociation.nz/disability-policies-of-nz-political-parties/)

What to check: the detailed funding, staffing and eligibility rules that would apply to children needing learning support in mainstream schools.

The available policy material gives a clearer picture of the party's principles and approach to Māori disability services than of specific nationwide teacher-aide or specialist-staff targets. [Disability Policies of NZ Political Parties](https://deafblindassociation.nz/disability-policies-of-nz-political-parties/)

### The Opportunities Party (TOP)

![](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/KZ1zP60v_ZeHHj3ij4DA2sVh6oX86DHN4x_RGhm63IEKbj8P_3phlgxON0_dzBqruxZt_piBvLSwWYOzxGtRjeiBIDJnBczyBauAihY7VhbFruy9Xq4tPeGbXtvfFHap7T9ZV_eOqtHyttigv_yv7jT6ibug6IoPJMJnJ8SLOeE?purpose=inline)

Main focus: specialist learning support and financial security for families

TOP's published disability position says it supports specialist school services, including Learning Support Coordinators, Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLBs), speech-language therapists, psychologists and mental-health services. It also proposes a Citizens' Income and Disability Allowance, with attention to unpaid carers and the interaction between paid work and support. [Opportunity Disability Position Statement - October 2026](https://www.opportunity.org.nz/disability_statement)[Opportunity Disability Position Statement - October 2026](https://www.opportunity.org.nz/disability_statement)[Opportunity Disability Position Statement - October 2026](https://www.opportunity.org.nz/disability_statement)

What to check: the proposed scale and timing of school staffing increases, and how its income proposals would work for parents who reduce paid hours to provide care.

TOP's October 2026 disability statement explicitly says families and carers should not be forced to fill gaps left by the support system. That is relevant to your circumstances, although the precise eligibility rules and financial effects would need to be checked against the detailed policy. [Opportunity Disability Position Statement - October 2026](https://www.opportunity.org.nz/disability_statement)[Opportunity Disability Position Statement - October 2026](https://www.opportunity.org.nz/disability_statement)

## 2. What is already changing in schools?

It is useful to separate election promises from support already funded by the current Government. The Ministry of Education's published Budget 2025 programme includes several significant learning-support commitments. [Learning support](https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/publications/corporate-documents/budget-2025/learning-support)[Learning support](https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/publications/corporate-documents/budget-2025/learning-support-budget-2025)

| Area | Funded programme |
| --- | --- |
| Learning Support Coordinators | Around 650 additional full-time teacher equivalents, phased in over three years, to extend access to schools with Years 1–8 students. |
| Teacher-aide hours | More than 2 million additional hours annually across several learning-support programmes from 2028. |
| Speech-language therapists and psychologists | An additional 78.5 full-time-equivalent speech-language therapists and 6.2 educational psychologists to address growing demand. |
| ORS funding | Additional funding for more than 1,700 further learners forecast to access the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme over four years. |
| Intensive support | 45 additional places in the Intensive Wraparound Service for learners with complex needs. |

Source: Ministry of Education, Budget 2025 learning-support programme. [Learning support](https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/publications/corporate-documents/budget-2025/learning-support)[Learning support](https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/publications/corporate-documents/budget-2025/learning-support-budget-2025)

These measures matter when comparing parties because the practical question is whether they would continue, expand, change or replace existing programmes. They also have different delivery dates, so a funding announcement does not mean every school already has the staff it needs.

For example, a Learning Support Coordinator helps families access services and supports teachers to respond to different learning needs. The role is not the same as having a teacher aide beside your child throughout the school day. [Learning support coordinators in schools](https://www.education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/learning-support/learning-support-coordinators-schools)[Overview of the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme](https://www.education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/learning-support/overview-ongoing-resourcing-scheme)

## 3. How to compare the policies against your family's needs

Given your concern about school support and the work you sometimes give up to provide care, I would look for answers to these five questions in each party's detailed policy.

Will my child receive practical support in class?

Look for commitments on teacher-aide hours, specialist teaching, individualised assistance and how funding is allocated according to need.

Will specialist help become easier to access?

Look for additional educational psychologists, speech-language therapists, RTLBs and other relevant professionals, alongside commitments to reduce waiting times.

How soon would changes reach our school?

Compare the first delivery date, annual staffing targets, eligibility requirements and whether funding is ongoing.

Would the policy reduce the burden on our family?

Consider respite and disability support, help for unpaid carers, and whether you could maintain paid work without losing essential support.

How would the party be held accountable?

Look for published targets, transparent reporting on waiting times, reviews of unmet need and a clear process for families to challenge inadequate support.

## 4. Where to verify the latest commitments

Election policies can be updated during the campaign, so these sources are particularly useful:

- [Policy.nz — 2026 election policy comparison](https://policy.nz/2026/party-vote/policies/education): compare education policies across parties.
- [Ministry of Education — Budget 2025 learning support](https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/publications/corporate-documents/budget-2025/learning-support): check the existing funding and staffing programme.
- [Disabled Persons Assembly NZ — 2026 disability election scorecard](https://www.dpa.org.nz/news-and-information/latest-news/disability-scorecard-for-2026-general-election/): disability organisations have asked seven parties about rights, funding and needs-based support for disabled learners. The page says responses will be collated into a scorecard, so check for the published results as the election approaches. [Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026](https://policy.nz/2026/party-vote/policies/education)[Learning support](https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/publications/corporate-documents/budget-2025/learning-support)[Disability Scorecard for 2026 General Election » Disabled Persons Assembly NZ](https://www.dpa.org.nz/news-and-information/latest-news/disability-scorecard-for-2026-general-election/)

## My suggested next step

Rather than judging parties by the number of announcements they make, compare their actual commitments on classroom support, specialist access and the financial pressure on caregivers. Those are separate issues, and a party may have detailed proposals on one without equally detailed plans for the others.

One question that would help me make the comparison more relevant: what age or school level is your child at?

For example, primary school, intermediate or secondary school. You do not need to share a diagnosis. The relevant services and the most useful policy details can differ depending on the child's age and stage of schooling.

**End captured answer**

## Gemini · asked nationally

Answer ID: da7758d8-cf47-4182-ac13-87d61dafcdf3. Captured 16 October 2026.

**Begin captured answer — shown as given, not verified**

Navigating the education system for a child with additional learning needs while trying to balance paid work is a significant challenge, and it is a key issue for many whānau in New Zealand ahead of the general election. 

While individual party manifestos vary in their specific mechanisms, the broader political landscape divides generally along how parties approach public funding, specialist workforce capacity, and structural support for inclusion. 

### 1. Inclusion, Funding, and Access to Specialist Support
* **The Green Party:** Advocates for fully funded inclusive education and an expansion of learning support systems, including the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS). Their approach emphasizes fully resourcing public schools so that neurodivergent and disabled children have guaranteed access to the modifications, specialist staff (such as psychologists, speech-language therapists, and needs coordinators), and adaptive tools they need without placing financial burdens on families.
* **Te Pāti Māori:** Focuses on a localized, needs-based funding model for learning support tied directly to the number of children with special education needs enrolled in a school, rather than contestable or capped pools. They also advocate for funding schools to hire additional, well-paid, and centrally supported support staff, alongside removing the power of schools to expel students under the school leaving age.
* **The Opportunities Party (TOP):** Emphasizes strengthening specialist support networks—including learning support coordinators, Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLBs), speech-language therapists, and psychologists—and ensuring schools have whole-school inclusion frameworks. They also highlight better cross-agency integration (connecting health, disability support, and education) so families do not have to continuously fight or retell their stories to navigate the system.
* **National, ACT, and NZ First (The Coalition Government Context):** Current government settings have largely focused on core academic basics (the "Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic" focus), expanding school choice through partnership and charter schools, and shifting structured approaches to attendance and curriculum. Critics and disability sector advocates often argue that these policies have not moved fast enough to address chronic under-resourcing and waitlists for learning support assessments, leaving many families to bridge the gaps themselves. Parties on the right generally favor targeted interventions or operational flexibilities rather than large-scale structural overhaul of specialist workforces, though they face continuous pressure from sector advocates regarding wait times.

### 2. Support for Families and Financial Strains (Balancing Work and Care)
Because getting suitable help at school often forces parents to reduce paid work, financial security for caregivers is a major intersecting policy area:
* **The Green Party and The Opportunities Party** have floated or supported broader financial safety nets—such as income support adjustments, disability allowances, or carer-focused allowances—aimed at recognizing and easing the financial penalty placed on parents who reduce work hours to care for children with high needs. 
* Independent disability and carer advocacy networks continue to lobby all parties for more robust respite care, guaranteed income support for unpaid family carers, and streamlined navigation so that parents do not have to act as full-time case managers for their children within disjointed health and education agencies.

### Deciding Your Vote
When looking at how the parties align with your primary concerns, you may want to look closely at:
1. **The Source of Funding:** Do their policies promise central, guaranteed resourcing for schools, or do they rely on contestable funding pools where schools have to compete or cap their intake?
2. **Specialist Workforce Pipelines:** Do they commit to training, recruiting, and retaining specific specialist professionals (speech therapists, educational psychologists, ORS specialists) to reduce assessment and intervention waitlists?
3. **Caregiver Support:** What provisions are they offering to protect families economically when parents have to step back from paid employment to manage their child's care?

***

**Would you like to explore how specific parties' education manifestos compare on funding models for specialist staff, or look into what current entitlements (like ORS or Ongoing Resourcing) legally require schools to provide?**

**End captured answer**

## Google AI Mode · asked nationally

Answer ID: eb96cc0d-0fe9-4a7a-9062-dd315b399764. Captured 16 October 2026.

**Begin captured answer — shown as given, not verified**

Navigating the learning support system for a child with additional needs while balancing your career is a significant challenge, and it is a major issue in the NZ Election 2026 landscape. While detailed, party-specific manifestos for the late 2026 election cycle focus heavily on broader economic and public service settings, the overarching debate centers on expanding specialist workforces, addressing lengthy waitlists, and reforming funding models like the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS).

An overview of where the major political spectrum approaches and recent policy directions stand on learning support includes:

 * * **National (Government Incumbent):** Emphasizes recent funding injections—such as the multi-hundred-million-dollar learning support packages and Budget allocations aimed at meeting increased ORS demand and restructuring verification models. Their focus is on boosting front-line specialist numbers and reducing waitlists within the existing agency framework, though critics and educators note that systemic wait times remain high.

 * **Labour:** Typically advocates for centrally-led expansion of staffing resources, pushing for more educational psychologists, speech-language therapists, and co-ordinators embedded directly in schools rather than families having to navigate fractured regional waitlists.

 * **Green Party & Te Pāti Māori:** Generally press for a comprehensive overhaul of the learning support framework, arguing that current access rates cover too few neurodivergent and disabled children. They tend to advocate for guaranteed, needs-based resourcing as a legal entitlement rather than a capped resource pool, alongside greater funding for Māori and Pacific specific early intervention models.

 * **ACT & New Zealand First:** Generally lean toward fiscal constraint or targeted delivery, emphasizing administrative efficiency, flexibility for schools in how they deploy operational funding, or choice in education provision rather than broad-based centralized bureaucracy expansions.

 *

You can compare specific party commitments side-by-side as they are updated on Policy.nz. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026

If you would like to explore this further, I can help you look into:

 * Specific **advocacy groups or parent networks** in New Zealand that offer guidance on navigating ORS and school-based support.
 * How to find **local candidate stances** in your specific electorate regarding disability and education funding.

Let me know how you would like to proceed.

**End captured answer**

## Google AI Overviews · asked nationally

Answer ID: 247c6086-6a58-4cba-9243-359d524b22bf. Captured 16 October 2026.

**Begin captured answer — shown as given, not verified**

**Political parties heading into the 2026 New Zealand General Election are taking distinct approaches to education and learning support, balancing structural investments against broader workforce support.** Because your main concern is securing adequate learning interventions while juggling personal care arrangements, the current policy landscapes of the major parties highlight different solutions to this systemic strain.

The primary policy positions regarding learning support, specialist staff, and accommodations for high-needs students include:

🔵 National Party

The

National Party

is campaigning on its record of executing what it calls the largest investment in learning support in a generation. Their platform prioritizes targeted interventions embedded within a heavily structured curriculum:

 * **Funding Boosts & Aide Hours:** National's multi-billion dollar funding package includes expanding the Early Intervention Service through Year 1. They have committed to building up to more than **2 million annual teacher aide hours by 2028**.
 * **Dedicated Staff & Specialists:** Their framework sustains targeted allocations for Year 1–8 Learning Support Coordinators and provides specific funding streams to increase the numbers of regional school therapists and psychologists.
 * **ORS Funding Overhaul:** National has implemented a demand overhaul for the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS), shifting toward guaranteed funding to ensure complex-needs students maintain support throughout their school life.
 * **Care-Related Flexibility:** Education Minister Erica Stanford has announced plans to work with schools toward **nationally consistent school start and finish dates**. This initiative aims specifically to prevent parents from having to constantly juggle erratic school calendars and reduce paid work or take extra leave for childcare.

🔴 Labour Party

The Labour Party argues that rigid curriculum constraints and standardized milestones create unnecessary barriers for complex learners. Their policies emphasize decentralization, letting schools allocate resources based on specific student demographics:

 * **System Flexibility:** Labour proposes removing National's mandated "one hour a day" blocks for reading, writing, and maths. They aim to give schools the local discretion to blend these foundational skills natively across wider, more accessible curriculum activities.
 * **Curriculum & Assessment Pause:** Labour plans to pause the ongoing government school curriculum overhauls and secondary NCEA changes. They intend to set up an Independent Council for Curriculum and Assessment (ICCA) to re-evaluate how special needs and general tracking can be integrated without inducing child anxiety through nationalized testing.
 * **Holistic School Supports:** Labour pledges to reinstate structural mechanisms like the fully funded Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch programme to ease financial and logistical strain on families.

🟢 Green Party

The

Green Party

views the current learning support infrastructure as chronically overstretched. They are campaigning on a platform of structural systemic changes, focusing heavily on expanding the workforce pipelines that feed into support roles:

 * **Workforce Paid Placements:** To combat acute shortages in critical education roles, the Greens have introduced a

[Paid Placements policy](https://www.ecnz.ac.nz/articles/news/Go-Rural-Shows-the-Value-of-Paying-Future-Teachers-While-They-Train)

. This provides a universal weekly payment of $380 for student teachers, social workers, and health support staff during their mandatory unpaid practical training, attempting to lower the high student dropout rates affecting the sector.
 * **Advocacy for Comprehensive Overhauls:** The Greens reject "cosmetic tweaks" or fragmented, reactive funding pools. They advocate for a system entirely redesigned around inclusive learning infrastructure, higher teacher-to-student ratios, and dedicated funding explicitly earmarked for workforce expansion in the special education sector.

* * *

To assist you further in evaluating your voting options for the **2026 election** , would you find it helpful to look into how the minor parties (such as **ACT** or **Te Pāti Māori**) propose funding special education? Alternatively, we can explore what **welfare or carer support allowances** are currently available at the country level if you must reduce your working hours.

**End captured answer**

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