NZ’s biggest single democratic event

Nationwide focus on NZ’s biggest single democratic event

Schools throughout the country are now gearing up for one of the biggest events on the education calendar – the 2010 School Trustee Elections.

The 2010 School Trustee Election campaign was officially launched last week, by Hon Anne Tolley, Minister of Education, together with Lorraine Kerr, NZSTA President. Schools across the country are now beginning their local efforts to encourage community members with the right skills to stand for their local board.

Each of the 2,468 state and state integrated schools throughout the country will hold an election process to elect a new school board, and many are already hard at work on their local campaign.

Election Project manager Elaine Hines says that national resources to assist boards in their campaigns are already in place, and school election promotion kits arrive in schools this week.

The 2010 School Trustee Elections are New Zealands biggest single democratic event and this is the eighth triennial election since self managing schools were introduced in 1989.

The triennial trustee election process is ultimately about community participation in the good governance of our schools, and through that, improved student achievement says Ms Hines.

“School trustees have a very important role in setting the strategic direction of the school, setting achievement goals, monitoring progress and ensuring the reporting of the results to the school community occurs”.

The 2010 School Trustee Elections campaign aims to identify and attract sufficient candidates with the right skills and experiences to ensure that each school can elect a high quality board.

The theme of the 2010School Trustee Elections is “Strong leaders make strong schools” says Elaine Hines, and we need the skills and experiences of the wider community to realise our theme – and our vision of all students achieving to a high level.

ENDS