Media Statement

Minister launches Triennial Board of Trustees Elections

Education Minister Hekia Parata is encouraging people with a mix of skills and experience to step forward and become a board member of their local school.

“If you are creative, you can crunch numbers, you like to work as part of a team and are eager to put students at the heart of every decision you make, then your school needs you to step up.

“This year’s theme is Step Forward – Piki ake – and I trust New Zealanders will do just that,” says Ms Parata.

School boards hold overall responsibility for the governance of a school, setting goals, determining the strategic direction and monitoring their school’s performance, and raising the achievement of each and every student.

Ms Parata says trustees don’t have to be parents or have children at the school they stand for.

“They do need to be able to reflect their community – the parents, families, whānau, aiga, caregivers, hapū, and iwi who are local to them and the school.”

Ms Parata says the trustee elections are the largest democratic event in the country, involving the election of a board of trustees for almost 2,500 state and state-integrated schools every three years.

“More than 15,000 people are needed to form boards, and more than 110,000 people have taken on the trusteeship role since 1989.”

The official election launch is at the Pasifika festival in Auckland this morning. Elections will be held around the 30 May 2013. Nominations open 15 April 2013.

ends

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