education

Categories under education

Hekia Parata fabricates a ‘Special Education Association’

Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, August 29th, 2016 - 83 comments

Hekia Parata has stooped to a new low. She has lied. Openly and blatantly. I do hope the media and opposition MPs take this further.

Nats push stupidest education plan ever

Written By: - Date published: 2:26 pm, August 23rd, 2016 - 218 comments

It’s not April 1st, so I’m forced to conclude that this is a genuine announcement: Students to learn online from home instead of at school under major education reform.

Interest free student loans – still safe for now?

Written By: - Date published: 10:05 am, August 18th, 2016 - 58 comments

A right wing “think-tank” wants to load students up with even more debt.

Labour on student debt – beware of clickbait headlines

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, August 10th, 2016 - 125 comments

“Revealed: Labour’s plan to wipe student debt”. Nope. Saved you a click.

The Mother Budget

Written By: - Date published: 6:21 pm, May 26th, 2016 - 89 comments

There are budgets and there are budgets. And for all the presence or absence of bright ideas, there’s a budget that threatens to subsume all others…

All aboard the charter schools gravy train

Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, May 21st, 2016 - 32 comments

Charter schools are pretty nice work if you can get it, no wonder groups are lining up. But there’s no evidence that they are good for education.

We’re going to burn it all, until we burn it down.

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 am, May 20th, 2016 - 173 comments

What does it really mean to reduce NZ’s total fossil fuel use by 50% by 2030: a warm up discussion for an upcoming thought experiment.

Pharmac underfunded and education cuts

Written By: - Date published: 7:18 am, May 6th, 2016 - 30 comments

It’s a steady attrition, the death of a thousand cuts.

National standards – a failed crusade

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, May 3rd, 2016 - 260 comments

National told us “New Zealand elected a Government that promised to introduce national standards so that every single child could read, write, and do maths when they left school.”

Key launches war on P

Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, April 22nd, 2016 - 89 comments

“My message to the gangs is clear. This Government is coming after your business and we will use every tool we have to destroy it. We will be ruthless in our pursuit of you and the evil drug you push.”

Time for progress on drug law

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, March 31st, 2016 - 82 comments

Welcome signs of new realism on drugs. Sadly, it’s the sort of progress only a right-wing government can propose.

Postcard from the “brighter” future

Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, March 30th, 2016 - 31 comments

Evidence of growing poverty hitting “mid-decile” schools.

Family First on the important issues of the day

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, March 14th, 2016 - 13 comments

Don’t conservative cranks have anything better to do with their time?

Charter schools paid ideology bonuses

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, February 29th, 2016 - 30 comments

Charter schools showered with even more money for missing their targets. Something to do with forests, apparently.

The TPPA could blight public education

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, February 9th, 2016 - 178 comments

The TPPA could bring us charter schools on steroids, and threaten policies like free tertiary education. In general its a way of locking in a permanent, international right-wing governance which can limit and constrain the kind of social policies that any future NZ left-wing government might want to enact.

ECONOMY IN PERIL! DANGER!! WARNING!!!

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, February 3rd, 2016 - 149 comments

headless chickens

Key’s second waitress bungle

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, February 3rd, 2016 - 78 comments

Key’s badly dented “political antennae” took another solid beating yesterday, with his second high-profile bungle involving a waitress.

Praise for Labour’s tertiary bombshell

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, February 2nd, 2016 - 31 comments

Although there have been predictable howls of outrage from the usual suspects, the media reaction to Labour’s bold tertiary education policy has been generally great.

Another policy to be proud of

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, February 1st, 2016 - 284 comments

Labour has rolled out another big bold policy that will shape the national discussion for years. Critics, most of whom received a free tertiary education themselves back in the day, want to deny a younger generation the same right (and pocket a tax cut instead). Enter Steven Joyce…

Good money after bad into the bottomless pit of charter schools

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, January 29th, 2016 - 73 comments

Yesterday the Nats confirmed the closing of a failed Northland charter school. Turns out we’ll be paying an extra $400,000 for the first quarter of this year, even though the school will not open. Brilliant.

The great big list of John Key’s big fat lies (UPDATED)

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, January 27th, 2016 - 79 comments

How many more lies will John Key tell today in his so-called State of the Nation address? Virtual chocolate fish to whomever guesses the closest number.

Tertiary fee drop – excellent proposal from Labour

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, January 22nd, 2016 - 139 comments

Education is a public good, but tertiary education in NZ has been undermined by high student fees and debt. So it’s very encouraging to see a proposal from Labour for reducing fees (and not ruling out free education!).

Skill shortages and reaping what you sow

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, January 18th, 2016 - 114 comments

Data released to the Sunday Star-Times shows a huge decline in numbers of tertiary students, including declines in many key skills and fields. Various explanations are offered, only one of them makes sense…

Education mess

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, December 12th, 2015 - 14 comments

Details of a mess in tertiary education published yesterday. On top of the mess in charter schools. National aren’t very good at this.

John Key’s hedge fund mate behind Teach First (NZ)

Written By: - Date published: 7:36 am, December 9th, 2015 - 195 comments

Julian Robertston, a US billionaire who made his money with hedge fund Tiger Management, Merryl Lynch’s largest customer when John Key was working there, is the man behind privatisation trojan horse Teach First (NZ).

NRT: Compare and contrast

Written By: - Date published: 2:16 pm, November 27th, 2015 - 2 comments

I/S at No Right Turn compares the government’s treatment of two very different schools. “National’s racism and pandering to the rich pervades every aspect of policy.”

The education review

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, November 4th, 2015 - 31 comments

National is initiating a review of education. They will of course be excluding consideration of resourcing and their sacred cows (national standards, charter schools). One possible outcome appears to be shifting resources from poorer schools to richer ones.

More charter school hypocrisy

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, October 9th, 2015 - 21 comments

Turns out the Education Minister overrode Ministry advice to protect National’s pet charter schools from being evaluated on their actual outcomes. Plus a bonus side order of hypocrisy on class sizes.

Even Catherine Isaac thinks Parata has no idea

Written By: - Date published: 5:15 pm, October 8th, 2015 - 18 comments

When Catherine Isaac (wife of Roger Kerr (deceased) of the former Business Round-table and ACT party stalwart) is at odds with Parata, something must be amiss.

Hekia has gone rogue

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, October 5th, 2015 - 41 comments

Hekia Parata has announced that student achievement and not need caused by poverty will be a central part of any future funding system.

Christianity doesn’t compromise with other religions

Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, September 29th, 2015 - 115 comments

Christianity doesn’t compromise with other religions or has the World Finally Gone madder?