In a recent report, museum director Ian Griffin said the museum had already provided LEOTC-funded programmes to 3771 young people, ranging from preschoolers to secondary school pupils.
Participating numbers were already more than five times higher than the latest half-yearly target of 709 after the first half of the financial year, starting on July 1, Dr Griffin said.
The museum had also already attracted 242% of the overall annual LEOTC pupil target for the full financial year, ending on June 30 next year, he said.
The figures included multiple programmes offered for the same school class on the same visit, which were excluded from the Ministry of Education's counting criteria.
Dr Griffin said the museum "really values" the LEOTC funding it received, "since it enables us to employ a staff member who can support the programmes we offer".
"The frustration from my perspective is that the demand for LEOTC services by far outweighs funding received so the museum ends up supporting the demand using our own resources," he said.
During discussion at a recent Otago Museum Trust Board meeting, board members heard that Dunedin and Otago also faced wider problems arising from overall southern funding for LEOTC programmes being reduced through a population-based funding formula.
