Education
2 portfolios: Education and Tertiary Education. 3 office holders in government, and spokespeople for 3 parties.
Education
Government
- Minister of EducationErica Stanford (National), Cabinet
- Associate Minister of EducationDavid Seymour (ACT), Cabinet
All 5 delegated responsibilities
- Functions and responsibilities of the Education portfolio relating to school choice, in particular:
- leading the work related to the reintroduction and implementation of a partnership schools model, and the introduction and implementation of a policy to allow State schools to become partnership schools
- exploring further options to increase school choice and expand access to State integrated and private schools, including reviewing the private school funding formula to better reflect changes in student numbers; (the Minister of Education retains responsibility for managing the overall network of schools, including school property provision in the Crown- owned portfolio, and policy changes that increase choice of State schools)
- Functions and responsibilities of the Education portfolio relating to school attendance, in particular:
- leading work related to attendance, with a focus on reporting and enforcement action to increase regular attendance, including centrally collecting and publishing attendance data
- leading work related to Healthy School Lunches, focused on programme improvements and cost effectiveness
- Functions and responsibilities of the Education portfolio relating to early childhood education (ECE), in particular:
- responsibility for ECE policy and operations, including funding, regulations, workforce and engagement with the key ECE stakeholders (this delegation excludes Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and the transition from ECE to compulsory schooling, which remains the responsibility of the Minister of Education, and Family Boost matters which are the responsibility of the Minister of Revenue)
Spokespeople
- LabourJan TinettiSpokesperson for Early Childhood Education
- LabourGinny AndersenSpokesperson for Education
- LabourWillow-Jean PrimeAssociate Spokesperson for Education (Māori)
- GreenLawrence Xu-NanSpokesperson for Education (including ECE)
- GreenHūhana LyndonSpokesperson for Māori Education
- Te Pāti MāoriNone recorded
Sources: Green Party team page (party), 16 September 2026; Labour Party team page (party), 16 September 2026; DPMC Ministerial List (official), 13 August 2026.
Tertiary Education
Government
- Minister for Tertiary EducationPenny Simmonds (National), Cabinet
Spokespeople
- LabourShanan HalbertSpokesperson for Tertiary Education
- GreenFrancisco HernandezSpokesperson for Tertiary Education
- Te Pāti MāoriNone recorded
Sources: Green Party team page (party), 16 September 2026; Labour Party team page (party), 16 September 2026; DPMC Ministerial List (official), 13 August 2026.