Education · Party position

National on Education

Focused on basics, structured teaching, and raising achievement

National says it is putting reading, writing and maths at the centre of school life. It has made schools teach these subjects every day for an hour, banned phones in class, and sent out workbooks to students. It is also building new classrooms, supporting teachers with training and bonuses, and wants to replace NCEA with a new qualification.

What they say they've done

Mandated an hour of reading, writing and maths every day in schools
Banned cell-phone use in schools
Delivered 836,000 maths workbooks and textbooks to kids up to 12
Supported nearly 20,000 teachers with professional development in structured literacy
Announced the proposal to replace NCEA with a new national qualification
Launched a Teacher Bonding Scheme giving eligible teachers up to $40,000 over five years

Who this affects

school students

Students have a mandated daily hour of reading, writing and maths, phone-free classrooms, and access to new teaching materials and a clearer curriculum from Years 1 to 10.

parents

An online tool has been developed so parents can see what their child is learning in each subject each year and how to support them at home.

teachers

Teachers have received registration fee coverage, professional development in literacy and maths, and can access a bonding scheme of up to $40,000 over five years at eligible schools.

students with learning support needs

Learning Support Coordinators have been introduced for all primary and intermediate schools, and the government says it has delivered the largest boost to learning support in a generation.

In their own words

“Mandated an hour of reading, writing and maths, every day.”

“Launched a Teacher Bonding Scheme, giving teachers at eligible schools up to $40,000 over five years if they stay at the school.”

“Since January 2024, we have delivered 430 new classrooms.”

Verify at National — Teaching the Basics Brilliantly (national.org.nz)

Summarised neutrally from National’s own official policy (as at 2026-09-15) and checked by an editor. Nothing is paraphrased without the source linked. Read the original ↗ Politika is non-partisan. Compare all parties on Education →

Coverage at a glance

Which party holds a published position on which topic.

Open the compare tool →

Swipe across to see all 11 topics — the party column stays put.

Party	Economy	Housing	Health	Education	Climate	Environment	Crime & Justice	Treaty & Māori Affairs	Immigration	Foreign Policy	Democracy & Government
National

Published position∅ No stated position (verified) Not captured yet

Also contesting, without seats in Parliament
Women’s Rights
Animal Justice
ALCP
Conservative
Outdoors & Freedom
Vision NZ
Alliance
Free Palestine
NZ Loyal											∅
Te Tai Tokerau											∅