Erica Stanford, education minister of New Zealand, unveiled initiatives to shift the educational focus toward “structured literacy”, a method that systematically and explicitly prepares students to decode words. Stanford noted that over the past two to three decades, literacy rates have declined. As part of the 2024 budget, the government has allocated $67 million to revamp how children learn to read. This initiative will fund educational materials, teacher development, phonics programs, and additional resources for students needing extra support. Data from the Ministry of Education in New Zealand shows that around 85% of all primary schools and at least half of all junior primary school teachers have already adopted this structured approach to literacy in their teaching.