NEW CHANGES TO MOVE SCHOOLS FROM DECILE SYSTEM TO EQUITY INDEX

This pānui is to let you know about a change that is being made to the decile system, and what this means for our kura and ākonga.

As you may know, we receive government funding and staffing to operate our kura which is mostly based on the number of ākonga we have.

There is also some government funding that is targeted. This includes ‘Equity Funding’. Currently our Equity Funding is based on how many ākonga we have and our school decile, but from 2023 school deciles will be phased out. The Ministry has a new measure called the Equity Index (EQI)

The EQI helps identify schools and kura that need additional funding and resources to support ākonga. The EQI gives each school a three-digit number which is tied to a funding rate. This number is not a measure of quality. It is also not reflective of our schools’ teaching, culture, ākonga ability or achievement.

The EQI is a complex tool with strict privacy protections. School Boards, Principals and staff will not be provided with any information about ākonga, families or whānau, that has been used to generate their EQI number.

This number will be updated every year. For 2023 our number is 423. The average national Equity Index number is 463.

Another funding change happening next year is that the Ministry is making changes to the Isolation Index. This tells the Ministry how isolated our school is compared to others. It was last changed 20 years ago and of course there have been lots of changes to roads and our region in that time. This change will not have any/will impact on us.

You can read more about these changes including factsheets at the Ministry of Education’s website: The Equity Index – Ministry of Education