Special character support raised with Education Minister

The Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools (APIS) suggested a possible mechanism for supporting such development in a meeting with Minister Erica Stanford.

“Our sector lost the support we previously enjoyed in the Education Act when the Act was reviewed in 2016,” said APIS chief executive Dr Kevin Shore.

“This support from the Crown was lost as they no longer had responsibility for tertiary teacher training establishments with most being transferred to universities across New Zealand. It has been an issue that has been sitting in the background until recently and APIS have decided to give this issue a stronger focus,” he said.

Dr Shore expressed gratitude for the State Integrated Growth Initiative (SIGI) funding initiative announced by the Minister in July. The Government agreed in the 2025/26 Budget to fund almost $30 million across four years to support growth in the state integrated school sector.

Dr Shore said that APIS is currently negotiating with the Ministry of Education on the process and systems that will need to be in place to ensure these resources are used to best support the school network.

“A significant amount of work is required in a short timeframe, but we are hopeful that by the time of the Association of Integrated Schools (AIS) conference we may have further details to share or at the very least be able to discuss the issues that we are negotiating with our stakeholders.”

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