An international report shows New Zealand spends less than the OECD average on educating students.

The Education at a Glance 2012 report provides a snapshot of global education and compares the investment in education by countries within the OECD.

The report shows that most European countries, as well as Japan, are ahead of New Zealand. Countries that spend less than New Zealand include Chile and Mexico.

Western Bay of Plenty PPTA chair Graeme Bridge says it is true that New Zealand is under the OECD average for all expenditure on education.

He says you have to realise that it is spending that covers all forms of educational spending. From early childhood right through to tertiary.

'The OECD report confirms that we as a nation are gaining a greater value from that investment by being near the top of the OECD in student achievement.

'It is also a balancing act when the education sector is coming under pressure to address a growing number of concerns from projected future teacher shortages, to greater numbers of children coming into the school system, to rising costs of school donations where parents are left to pick up the shortfalls and the Children's Commissioners report released in August that 270,000 New Zealand children live in poverty.”

He says that figure has doubled in the last 30 years.

'There is a need to spend more and given the increases in economic pressures and spending below the average for OECD in educational spending is quite misleading and needs to be balanced with the fact that we are at the bottom end in terms of total public expenditure on all services as a percentage of GDP.

'Education is an investment that we as a nation simply cannot afford to skimp on.”

Tauranga MP Simon Bridges says the report shows the Government spends more of its budget on education than any of the other 33 countries in the OECD.

He says that is 21.2 per cent, the average is 13 per cent.

'In relation to spending as a proportion of our country's gross domestic products we're also high because we're fifth on 7.2 per cent on GDP.

'The point is, I don't think that anyone can claim that we're not spending enough on education, in comparison to our overall budgets and what we earn as a country we spend a lot on education.”

Simon says if the country wants to spend more, then the Government needs to have policies in place to promote economic growth.

'Putting that simply, countries that are wealthier have more money for education. We've got great teachers and an education system that is among the best in the world.

'The Government's focus is on ensuring that not only four out or five but five out of five kids get the qualifications they need from school.”