Almost all NZ state schools are operating at or above capacity

Secondary Principals’ Association President Vaughan Couillault said certain regions are seeing school rolls outpace infrastructure. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller

• Seventeen percent of state schools have more students than their official classroom capacity.
• A $100 million package will fund a new school in West Auckland and expand Ormiston Senior College.
• It emphasises the need for better communication between immigration and education to manage growth.

School campuses across the country are bursting at the seams, due to an influx of immigrants, new data reveals.

Education Ministry figures show 17% of New Zealand’s state schools have more students than their official classroom capacity.

The 368 schools had classroom utilisation rates higher than 105% in 2024.

A further 1456 schools are considered at capacity, with a built area utilisation between 50 and 105%.

That figure works out to be 71% of schools.

The number of schools at capacity has increased since 2020, with 75 more schools in the category last year.

Those operating above the threshold had slightly dropped off in the same period, by 3%.

Secondary Principals’ Association President Vaughan Couillault said the numbers aren’t surprising.

“When you look at the immigration influx that we’ve had over the last 18 months or so, many of us in Auckland are in schools that have experienced quite unexpected and sharp roll growth.”

He said most of the school network should be at capacity, so buildings aren’t oversupplied.

However, Couillault told the Herald certain regions are seeing school rolls outpace infrastructure.

" If you went back to maybe seven or eight years ago, there was the opposite happening. There was a bit of a dip in the number of secondary school-age students," he said.

“So it certainly does ebb and flow and we are at the top of a bit of a peak at the minute.”

Education Minister Erica Stanford promised to address classroom challenges, following this week’s school property announcement.

Erica Stanford has announced a $100 million package to address growing school rolls. Photo / Michael Craig

A new 600-pupil primary school in West Auckland and an 18-classroom expansion for Ormiston Senior College are among the projects to be funded through a $100m package to address growing school rolls.

The funds have been “freed up” through the Government’s drive for more standardisation in school property design, which she claimed had reduced the price per classroom by 28%.

Stanford said property is one of the biggest strains for principals currently.

“It hasn’t reflected well on the Ministry of Education in the way that we have dealt with schools, so we are trying to take that stress away as well.”

Couillault said the Ministry as a whole is doing enough in regards to infrastructure, but doesn’t get enough immigration data.

“So there’s always a lag in terms of what’s happening at the customs gates, and then what’s happening in schools in terms of the preparedness,” he said.

“You can’t build a classroom in a week or two, but you can certainly have thousands of people immigrating in a week or two.”

He thinks more communication between immigration and education would help schools.

“Like when someone comes in on a work visa, how many children they’re bringing with them because it doesn’t appear that there’s always that clarity delivered to the Ministry of Education.”

Couillault said it’s a hard problem to solve, as principals can see growth in two or three weeks - then buildings take a while to catch up.

“But I know that there’s some real intent, particularly from the new government and the new minister, to get the infrastructure right.”

Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education, social issues and general news. Jaime joined Newstalk ZB in 2023, after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.

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