Strong rejection of controversial $359m education scheme

Strong rejection of controversial $359m education scheme

The Government’s underwhelming launch of its controversial Investing in Educational Success scheme shows a strong rejection of the proposal by school communities throughout the country.

Just 71 individual schools, or groups of schools, out of 2,500 have expressed any interest in the scheme.

“This is hardly a successful result for the Government,” said NZEI National President Judith Nowotarski

“It's an inevitable outcome and shows what happens when the Government fails to work with school communities before trying to impose a top down one-size-fits-all approach on schools.

“Quite frankly, this is embarrassing for the Government. It shows that it needs to go back to the drawing board and start talking to teachers, principals and parents about how it can use the $359m in the best interests of kids and their education.

“I think this rejection is a win for kids because now it is clear that this scheme is struggling. We need to come up with something that will really benefit all kids' learning based on what schools themselves identify as important."

Ms Nowotarski said that this time the focus must be on the needs of students.

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