Hon Bill English - National Education Spokesman

8 October 2004

NZQA, ERO blind to Cambridge problems?

The one question unanswered in the Education Review Office's report into Cambridge High is why government agencies failed to pick up the problems despite regular visits to the school, says National's Education spokesman, Bill English.

He says both the Education Review Office and the NZQA had been in and out of the school regularly before these major investigations, but failed to pick up on the problems.

The ERO report identifies a raft of issues, including the governance and management of the school, the qualifications system, and the professionalism of teachers.

Mr English says the report shows a school in deep trouble

"I want to know, and thousands of other parents will want to know, how government agencies missed these problems when the report shows they are so bad," he says.

"If the NZQA and ERO missed these problems at Cambridge, are they missing them in other schools?"

ENDS

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