Posts Tagged ‘education’

Lowly science

Written By: - Date published: 5:42 pm, October 30th, 2014 - 15 comments

I’m sure it’s true, but…

Socioecomonic status and educational outcomes (and the ignorance of DPF)

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, January 25th, 2014 - 49 comments

It would suit the right-wing of politics to ignore the profound impact of poverty on education. Nat blogger DPF ran the line just yesterday. His bombastic and ignorant conclusion is based on a trivially superficial reading of Hattie’s work.

Lining up for charter schools

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, May 23rd, 2013 - 34 comments

The PPTA has published a list of organisations that have expressed an interest in setting up charter schools, almost half of them religious groups, some of them with rather fringe beliefs. Do we really want scarce state education funding being used to teach creationism?

A lesson for the Secretary of Education

Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, November 2nd, 2012 - 50 comments

Buried in Audrey Young’s puff piece on Secretary of Education Lesley Longstone is an interesting insight into Longstone’s thinking on poverty and education. Longstone tries to downplay the link. Ignorance, or overt right-wing agenda?

World class education

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, October 31st, 2012 - 34 comments

The Secretary for Education has drawn the wrong conclusions from data on educational performance, and a bunch of commentators (including a particularly egregious anonymous editorial in The Herald) have been quick to follow. We certainly have a world class education system. The fact that not every child can take advantage of it is our real failing and our shame.

Shearer – excellent education speech

Written By: - Date published: 2:46 pm, September 9th, 2012 - 115 comments

David Shearer’s education speech today was excellent in every way. Core Labour values, a sound understanding of the issues, significant concrete policy, and the promise of more to come. “Under Labour, the world’s best education will be available at your local school”.

Call off the education cuts

Written By: - Date published: 7:21 am, June 1st, 2012 - 17 comments

National has no choice but to call off the education cuts. The sooner they do it the sooner it will stop killing them in the court of public opinion.

Nats’ school funding policy under attack

Written By: - Date published: 2:45 pm, April 15th, 2008 - 33 comments

Stuff reports that “Principals and teachers have savaged a National Party plan to increase funding for private schools, calling it a thinly disguised tax break for the rich.” New Zealand Secondary Principals’ Council chairman Arthur Graves called Key’s proposal to increase funding to private schools at the expense of the public system “a deliberate attempt […]

Key’s record on Te Wānanga o Aotearoa

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, April 15th, 2008 - 7 comments

The Herald is really doing its best to help out National. Today it proclaims ‘Key’s wananga visit undoes Brash legacy‘. That nice Mr Key has undone all the harm caused by that nasty old Dr Brash, we’re meant to believe. But check the record. It wasn’t Brash who led the attack on Te Wānanga o […]

Student debt, it’s the interest that matters

Written By: - Date published: 4:36 pm, April 10th, 2008 - 48 comments

Today, outstanding student loan debt reaches $10 billion. That’s a fair old swag of money but what has been ignored in the coverage so far is that this debt is interest-free. Now, an economist will tell you that the price of money is the interest rate, so student loans are free money. It’s not quite […]

National’s last moderate falls on her sword

Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, February 13th, 2008 - 36 comments

Katherine Rich was one of only 2 women on National’s front bench and its last moderate MP. The only surprise in her resignation is that she resisted the National hierarchy’s pressure to leave for so long. National’s all-male inner circle never had any time for this young, independent-minded woman with a social conscience who wouldn’t […]

National Party U-turn on student loans

Written By: - Date published: 4:18 pm, January 31st, 2008 - 84 comments

National have just backed down on their opposition to interest free student loans. Back in 2005 Key called this ‘a policy that tells young New Zealanders to go and borrow to the hilt What a cost to the country! What an unaffordable and irresponsible cost to the country! It is a sad day National members […]

Students as stakeholders

Written By: - Date published: 5:17 pm, November 14th, 2007 - 40 comments

Interesting to see Onslow College is giving its students a say over the hiring of their teachers. Recognising students as stakeholders in their schools is a fundamentally progressive and democratic move, and it’d be good to see it happening in other schools too. From this morning’s Dom Post: Pupils at Wellington’s Onslow College now have […]

More confusion from National over bulk funding

Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, November 7th, 2007 - 39 comments

Some people just never learn. After National’s conflicting statements on bulk funding the other day you’d have thought they’d get their messages in order, if not their policies. But take a look at these comments from Alan Peachey in Parliament yesterday: Hon Marian Hobbs: Has the Minister seen any reports on alternative approaches to supporting […]

National doublespeak

Written By: - Date published: 12:46 pm, November 3rd, 2007 - 31 comments

It’s happened again. The Nelson Mail reports that: National MP and former principal Allan Peachey has broken ranks with front-bench colleague Katherine Rich over education policy, arguing in favour of the bulk-funding of teacher salaries… The Tamaki MP and associate education spokesman… publicly endorsed the controversial model of funding schools. This directly contradicted Ms Rich, […]