Hon Bill English MP
National Education Spokesperson
9th February 2004

National launches postcard campaign on school closures

Parents who are angry about school closures will get an opportunity to register their protest to the Government through the National post card campaign, says National's Education spokesman Bill English.

National has delivered 70,000 postcards to every home in Invercargill, Timaru, Upper Hutt, Grey Valley, Wairoa and Matakaoa.

"Parents and other members of the community can fill out the petition form on the back of the postcard and I will transmit these to the Government.

"Wide-spread school closures have ripped the heart out of education in many communities. The Government would be making a big mistake to assume that sullen acceptance by these communities means agreement with what has happened.

"These communities have lost control of their destiny. Successful and strongly supported schools have been closed and long-standing relationships between schools and families have been broken, and parents of the future have lost their choices.

"I urge everyone to fill out the postcard because a strong signal to the Government will stop Labour's plans to close schools in another 10 communities this year.

"This is a follow-up to National's website www.skools.co.nz , which provides information for parents, teachers and students about the network review and provides the opportunity for feedback from the affected communities," said Mr English.

Ends

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