Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, November 7th, 2011 - 30 comments
The number of people attending adult community education has fallen by 80% since National’s cuts in 2009. National’s cuts have saved only $24m (vs the $1.1b cost of the ‘fiscally neutral’ tax cuts) but have denied over a quarter of a million people the opportunity to broaden their horizons and acquire new skills. National is leaving a poorer society behind it.
Written By: - Date published: 1:33 pm, October 31st, 2011 - 77 comments
National’s “Future Fund” asset-sale money will be spent on modernising schools we are told. Is the future they have in mind like Conservative Education Minister Michael Gove’s so-called “free schools” now being set up in Britain? It would be no surprise if our public assets were sold down by National to pay for private interests to get a stake in the school system here. We shouldn’t be under any illusions that the agenda is just short-term.
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, September 30th, 2011 - 101 comments
Grateful citizens rejoiced this week at the passage of the VTM (Voluntary Taxation Mechanism) bill.
Written By: - Date published: 6:32 am, September 28th, 2011 - 32 comments
John Key promised to put Food in poorer Schools across New Zealand to help children to learn. What has he done about it? One cheap, but very well-publicised stunt. Will we see any substance? Or is this another promise like not raising GST, wages catching Australia, or capping not cutting the civil service?
Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, September 27th, 2011 - 55 comments
One of the big stories last night was the anti-VSM protest at Auckland Uni. Was it the last one we will see in NZ? That would suit the Nats very nicely – sheep will be so much easier to fleece…
Written By: - Date published: 6:01 pm, September 14th, 2011 - 50 comments
The guys at RSA Animate provide their illustative talents to a quite brilliant and wide ranging lecture by Sir Ken Robinson on the topic of education. In the space of just over 10 minutes, he ranges from it’s industrial beginnings to its doped out, standardised present and argues finally, that educationally we’re heading in exactly the wrong direction and suggests alternatives.
Written By: - Date published: 1:20 pm, September 14th, 2011 - 46 comments
The government has been cutting funding to universities, and the effects are beginning to show.
Written By: - Date published: 4:44 pm, September 11th, 2011 - 73 comments
The other night I resigned from the bot of my local school. My experience in the field of education is fairly varied, with time on both sides of the chalkface as it were. … the bot has been forced by the government, through the moe to include national standards, and I can’t in good conscience be a party to such foolishness.
Written By: - Date published: 5:38 pm, September 10th, 2011 - 67 comments
John Armstrong wants Labour to come out radically different after the Cup. Having refused to cover Labour’s skills package or its mining policy, he’s suddenly interested in policy. He wants Labour to suddenly adopt league tables and forget the 39% tax rate. Armstrong genuinely doesn’t seem to get it. Parties of the Left don’t pick and swap policies on a whim.
Written By: - Date published: 9:11 am, September 8th, 2011 - 132 comments
RNZ had the news this morning that the schools most strongly opposing the nonsense of “national standards” – the Boards Taking Action Coalition – have decided to change their tactics.
Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, September 2nd, 2011 - 11 comments
The Tertiary Education Union has revealed that 350 jobs are for the chop at Canterbury University – 18% of the workforce. The Uni, hardly reassuringly, says its 100 to 500. The Nats blame the quake. That’s rubbish. These kind of cuts will permanently gut the Uni, leaving it in no position to be part of the recovery. National: the anti-education government.
Written By: - Date published: 6:54 am, August 31st, 2011 - 57 comments
Where National Standards is only the answer to “what keeps other countries from catching our education system?”
Written By: - Date published: 1:29 pm, August 24th, 2011 - 22 comments
As National’s spending cuts come home to roost, tertiary managers are trying to save money by cutting professional development expenditure. Sandra Grey of the Tertiary Education Union’s guest post explains how this has an insidious effect in driving down the quality of our academics and encouraging them to leave the country.
Written By: - Date published: 1:55 pm, August 17th, 2011 - 53 comments
More and more schools are standing up and saying No to national standards. Naturally, Tolley thinks it’s all about her.
Written By: - Date published: 6:46 am, August 17th, 2011 - 45 comments
Having decided to beat up on a few thousand of the most hard done by young people in the country, National is now refusing to acknowledge the problem of disconnected youth that has ballooned under their watch. There are enough young people who aren’t in education, training, or work to fill Eden Park, and Key is literally running from the issue.
Written By: - Date published: 5:13 pm, August 9th, 2011 - 40 comments
A report in the Financial Times, that hotbed of socialism, says that PFI’s as PPP’s are known in Britain cost an extra 20 billion pounds in “extra borrowing costs” over the 53 billion pounds of the projects’ actual cost. Not only that, 4 billion pounds will go to consultants. Enough said. Another dumb idea from those who gave us collateralised debt instruments, self-correcting markets and “there is no alternative”.
Written By: - Date published: 2:26 pm, August 5th, 2011 - 89 comments
About 600 Otago students turned out this morning to meet John Key in protest to the VSM bill. Good to see a strong show of support for student unions!
Written By: - Date published: 4:03 pm, July 31st, 2011 - 61 comments
Why is it that the Ministry of Education has at least 20% of the school boards unwilling to put National’s standards into their charters. They are doing this despite the blatant bullying by the Anne Tolley as the minister. They can’t see what the standards would positively achieve for their kids. Perhaps Tolley needs some education?
Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, July 25th, 2011 - 57 comments
Tolley’s running a nasty little smear through Cameron Slater. See, non-profit kindergartens have millions in the bank while saying they need more cash. It must be a rip-off, eh? Yeah. Nah. The kindergartens just have the cash they’ve been given for future operations. So, why is Tolley trying to make this an issue?
Written By: - Date published: 7:29 am, July 20th, 2011 - 90 comments
According to a recent report, disadvantaged NZ youth are at the “bottom of OECD league”. The report recommends various interventions in schools. The recommendations completely miss the point, because the problem is not in the schools, the problem is in society.
Written By: - Date published: 6:57 am, July 10th, 2011 - 6 comments
Yesterday, hundreds of parents protested cuts to early childhood education on Queen St and gave Phil Goff a 60,000 signature petition to take to Wellington. 1000 people in the Octagon called on the government to consider Kiwi jobs when awarding contracts. What is wrong with the priorities of this government that puts tax cuts ahead of kids and job?
Written By: - Date published: 5:10 pm, July 7th, 2011 - 4 comments
Te Tai Poutini Polytechnic is receiving an additional $750 million funding from Minister Steven Joyce after changing its name to the South Western Motorway.
Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, July 5th, 2011 - 9 comments
There’s a march in Auckland on Saturday, to protest the government’s massive cuts to the Early Childhood Education sector, and proposal to end 20 hours free for 3-4 year-olds.
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, July 2nd, 2011 - 63 comments
Yesterday was crunch day for schools who oppose the governments national standards, and a surprising number have made a very bold stand. But according to Tolley: ”Look, it’s election year, so anything goes”…
Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, July 1st, 2011 - 17 comments
The quality of children’s ECE care clearly influences their later development, and therefore helps to shape their entire lives. It’s probably the best investment any country can make, and the Nats are taking us backwards.
Written By: - Date published: 6:20 am, June 15th, 2011 - 85 comments
My jaw dropped when I heard this listening to Question Time yesterday. Mallard: “Does he understand that real average wages go up when high-income earners get massive tax cuts-$1,000 a week, in his case-and low-income workers lose their jobs?” English: “No, I do not understand that, because it is not true.” Can’t English do simple maths?
Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, June 3rd, 2011 - 11 comments
TEU President Sandra Grey writes: When all the unders and overs are calculated, the maths for tertiary education is a lot simpler than all the commentary from the government would have us believe. For the next four years, the minister, Steven Joyce, will be putting less money into tertiary education. That is a political choice.
Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, June 2nd, 2011 - 16 comments
It’s great to have North Shore candidate Ben Clark writing for us here at The Standard. This is a Guest Post from brother and Dunedin North candidate David Clark (a dynamic duo indeed!). David writes about the just released government report on the early childhood education sector…
Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, May 2nd, 2011 - 65 comments
You’re the ruling government. Which do you choose, tax cuts for 47 millionaires or salaries for 121 new teachers? It’s not a hypothetical question…
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, April 22nd, 2011 - 69 comments
Turns out the teachers have been right all along. Family wealth is the overwhelming predictor of educational outcome. That means there are no quick fixes. The best way to improve educational outcomes is to improve the incomes of the poor.
Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, April 21st, 2011 - 19 comments
The Nats’ attack on early childhood education (ECE) is starting to bite. As surely as night follows day, the cuts in funding for childcare centres are showing up as increased costs for parents.
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