Education Ministry chief executive Karen Sewell says there will be redundancies as it tries to slash millions in spending, but admits the exact number will not be known for some time.
Ms Sewell says it is difficult to identify which jobs will go but savings are being looked at in a range of areas. Decisions on staffing cuts will be made in the next 18 months.
The Government has ordered the ministry to cut its spending by $25 million over the next three years. The ministry received $441 million in the current year's operating budget.
Ms Sewell says she will focus on three key areas: lifting student achievement, infrastructure and services and improving efficiency.
Education Minister Anne Tolley says the Government wants less national office bureaucracy and more frontline support for schools.
Ms Tolley says the ministry has been told to focus more on frontline regional support for schools and early-childhood education services and less national office bureaucracy.
But the Public Service Association fears the cuts will affect the ministry's frontline services. National secretary Brenda Pilott says cuts will have an impact on staff in the field if back-office support is cut, and she doubts that the only cuts at the ministry will be the only ones.
The cuts were ordered after a line-by-line review of all government departments' budgets.
Ms Tolley says there will be a reshaping of the ministry's role, size and focus.
The Labour Party says functions based at the national office include curriculum and research development and professional development of teachers, areas it says are vital to the quality of schools.
The party's education spokesperson, Trevor Mallard, says the quality of education depends on the quality of teachers, and it will be a backward step if their professional development was stopped.
