Applications have opened for the first round of funding under the Youth Enterprise Opportunities for Young People fund, Youth Minister Nikki Kaye announced today.

“This fund is about directly supporting young people who have a new or innovative enterprise idea to develop and execute their project,” says Ms Kaye.

“Innovation is incredibly important to the future of New Zealand and our economy, so it’s important we encourage and support our next generation of entrepreneurs.

A Ministerial youth advisory group will be set up to enable young people to have their say and have more influence on the education system and issues that affect them, Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced today.

“Our schools are all about and for our young people, so it’s really important to me that we have a way for them to share their views,” says Minister Kaye.

“This is about ensuring that young people are at the heart of decisions made about education in New Zealand.

Education Minister Nikki Kaye today confirmed the Government will replace the decile system for schools with targeted funding to better support those students most at risk of not achieving.

“For too long schools have been stigmatised and wrongly judged by their decile number,” says Ms Kaye.

“Children and young people deserve to take pride in their school and we need to better target funding to where the need is greatest to support all children to achieve.

Applications have opened for funding under the $100,000 Youth in Emergency Preparedness Fund, Youth Minister Nikki Kaye announced today.

“This is about growing the involvement of young people in civil defence and emergency services in New Zealand,” says Ms Kaye.

“The fund will support a national programme run collaboratively by the Ministry of Youth Development (MYD) and the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM).

Around $12 million will be invested to redevelop Wainuiomata High School, Education Minister Nikki Kaye and Associate Minister of Education Tim Macindoe announced today.

“This investment recognises that Wainuiomata High School’s buildings are ageing with many of them in poor condition and affected by issues such as weathertightness,” says Ms Kaye. 

“In 2015 a Limited Statutory Manager was appointed to assist the Board and school with their day-to-day functions and to help raise student achievement.

Education Minister Nikki Kaye and the Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Maggie Barry have announced the winning students who will be flying to Belgium to attend the 100th anniversary commemorations for the Battle of Passchendaele.

The students impressed the judges with their digital creations designed to teach younger students about this important event in New Zealand’s history. 

“All the students should be extremely proud of what they’ve produced,” says Ms Kaye.

Youth Minister Nikki Kaye today announced $30,000 of funding towards mentoring initiatives aimed at encouraging young people to explore potential career paths, develop career-related skills and transition to successful tertiary education.

“Mentoring from a trusted advisor and confidant, who can share experiences and knowledge, can be hugely beneficial for young people to help put them on a path to success,” says Ms Kaye.

The $280,000 Local Government Youth Partnership Fund is open for applications, Youth Minister Nikki Kaye announced today.

“This fund is about encouraging and supporting city, district and regional councils to partner with the Government, businesses and philanthropic and iwi partners to grow youth development opportunities,” says Ms Kaye.

The fund will be overseen by the Partnership Fund Board, set up in 2016 as part of a new direction for youth development in New Zealand.

Education Minister Nikki Kaye has congratulated 30 highly-accomplished Māori and Pasifika student teachers who have been awarded Kupe Scholarships.

The prestigious scholarship aims to attract Māori and Pasifika high achievers to the teaching profession and support them to become inspiring teachers and role models in early childhood, primary and secondary education.

“I’m delighted by the outstanding calibre of scholars that the Kupe Scholarship encourages into a teaching career,” says Ms Kaye.

Education Minister Nikki Kaye today announced the formal establishment of the new $11 million primary school for Halswell in Christchurch, which will now open in 2019.

“The Halswell area is experiencing rapid growth, and we’ve responded to that by bringing forward the planned date for Halswell West Primary School, to ensure children will be able to attend a local school,” says Ms Kaye.

The new school, which is part of the Christchurch Schools Rebuild programme, was originally scheduled to open in 2022.

Education Minister Nikki Kaye has announced an increase to the maximum roll of Bethlehem College in Tauranga, and approval for the college to establish a new campus in Rotorua.

“This announcement reflects the Government’s commitment to ensure there’s both sufficient capacity where needed, as well as choice within our education network,” says Ms Kaye.

Bethlehem College is a co-ed, state-integrated school offering non-denominational Christian-based education.

Minister of Education Nikki Kaye, today announced two appointments to the Board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

Neil Quigley is reappointed as member for one year, whilst Justine Munro is appointed as member for a term of two years.

“I am delighted with these appointments,” says Ms Kaye.

“Dr Quigley is Vice Chancellor of the University of Waikato. He has been on the Board since 2010 and will bring continuity in oversight of NZQA’s strategic work programme.

Over 7000 new leadership, mentoring and volunteering opportunities for young people have been created as a result of investment decisions made by the Ministry of Youth Development’s Partnership Fund Board, Youth Minister Nikki Kaye announced today.

“In mid 2016, the Government committed funding to seed a Partnership Fund overseen by an independent board, with the aim of attracting investments from business, philanthropic, iwi and other partners to help grow youth development opportunities,” says Ms Kaye.

The latest projects are being funded in the third round of the $18 million Teacher-led Innovation Fund (TLIF), which for the first time has been opened to teachers from early learning services to directly apply for funding.

“TLIF is about enabling our teachers from early learning through to secondary to try something new, something different and innovative to inspire children and young people in their learning.

Education Minister Nikki Kaye and Associate Education Minister Louise Upston today announced the official opening of the $14 million redevelopment of Northland College in Kaikohe.

Ms Upston was at the college this morning for the official opening ceremony.

Ms Kaye says today is a big day for the college and the communities it serves.

“This was a major project that was effectively a school rebuild. When I visited the college in August 2015, I acknowledged that they’d been working in less than ideal conditions for some time,” says Ms Kaye.

Around $5.5 million will be invested under Budget 2017 to provide more new classrooms for schools in Northland, Education Minister Nikki Kaye and Associate Education Minister Tim Macindoe announced today.

Minister Macindoe visited Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe today to make the announcement.

“This first round of school infrastructure investment under Budget 2017 will provide a total of eleven new classrooms at three schools and kura in the region,” says Ms Kaye.

The Government has decided to transfer responsibility for teachers’ professional learning and development (PLD) from the Ministry of Education to the Education Council, Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced today.

This means the total amount overseen by the Education Council over a three year period for PLD will be worth more than $200 million from the start of 2018.

“The Education Council is the independent body which promotes excellence and whose role is to share best practice in the education sector,” says Ms Kaye.”

Around $21 million will be invested for more new classrooms in Auckland as part of Budget 2017, say Education Minister Nikki Kaye and Associate Education Minister Tim Macindoe.

Ms Kaye made the announcement during a visit to Rowandale School in Manurewa this afternoon.

“This investment will see 41 new classrooms built, including 34 roll growth and seven replacement classrooms, at eight schools across Auckland,” says Ms Kaye.

The schools receiving new classrooms are:

Budget 2017 has already provided for around $19 million to increase capacity in Wanaka and today Education Minister Nikki Kaye and Associate Education Minister Tim Macindoe announced a further $5 million will be invested in schools in the Otago region.

Minister Macindoe visited Cromwell Primary School today to make the announcement.

Education Minister Nikki Kaye today announced an investment package of around $40 million over three years to enhance the digital fluency of our young people.

“This investment will support the biggest change to our curriculum in 10 years,” says Ms Kaye.

The package includes $24 million of new and $16 million of existing funding, and comes on top of:

Consultation on new digital technologies content for the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, the Māori-medium Curriculum, was launched today by Education Minister Nikki Kaye.

“We’re breaking new ground with a curriculum that offers unique Māori content, learning that can be shaped according to students’ individual needs, and future-proofing so it can adapt to new technology as it arises,” says Ms Kaye.

A diverse mix of schools and early learning providers have been celebrated for their outstanding work at the Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards tonight, with Manurewa Intermediate School taking the Supreme Award.

“Manurewa Intermediate School has radically changed the lives of all their students, engaging them in learning across the board,” says Education Minister Nikki Kaye.

The other winners are:

Students learning English as a second language will benefit from a further $9.4 million being made available under Budget 2017 to support schools over the next two years, says Education Minister Nikki Kaye.

“New Zealand has an increasingly diverse student population,” says Ms Kaye.

“We’re seeing a growing number of students who have English as a second language, and consequently more schools requesting specialised support to help those students.