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New Zealand Prime Minister and National Party leader Christopher Luxon announced new pledges on education and social policies following his visit to the Busy Bees childcare centre in Whakatāne.

Luxon said reforms to the education system over the past three years had led to significant improvements in reading and mathematics achievement. "As a father, I want every New Zealand child to have the best possible start in life. We have made progress, but there is still much more to do," he said.

Mathematics support to be expanded to 40,000 additional students

Luxon announced that, as part of the new education measures, the Mathematics Acceleration Programme would be expanded to provide one-on-one mathematics support to an additional 40,000 students.

Individual retirement savings support for newborns and a social media ban

The National Party's election pledges also include sweeping measures targeting children and young people. The key elements of the new package announced by Luxon are as follows:

KiwiSaver support for newborns: Every newborn child will receive a contribution of 1,500 US/NZ dollars to a KiwiSaver individual retirement savings fund.

Social media ban for under-16s: Children under the age of 16 will be prohibited from using social media platforms to combat screen addiction and cyberbullying.

Compulsory education and curriculum reform: Young people will be guaranteed to remain in the education system until at least Year 11, and the existing National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) examination and assessment system will be replaced with a new one.

Calling on voters to support stability, Luxon emphasized that existing policies were delivering results and said, "Let's stay the course with this plan that works."