Anne Tolley MP
National Party Education Spokeswoman

18 June 2008

Schools Plus consigned to Never-Never Land

Education Minister Chris Carter appears to have absolutely no idea when his utopian fairytale, Schools Plus, will be finalised, let alone implemented, says National’s Education spokeswoman, Anne Tolley.

“I asked Chris Carter repeatedly in the House yesterday to tell me when the policy would be finalised, but he could not, or would not, give me an answer.

“The revolt by schools and teacher unions to this policy is growing daily. The Primary Principals Federation, the Auckland Secondary Principals Association, and two teacher unions have now joined the clamour of protest started by 15 principals from the North Shore.

“This policy has been so badly thought through that it took two months after the Prime Minister’s launch of the policy to release a discussion document. And now, five months after the announcement, the policy is so poorly understood by schools that, according to the Minister, every complaint schools have made is disingenuous, a misunderstanding, or completely unfounded.

“If even the Minister has no idea of when this policy will start, how do schools have any hope of planning for its implementation?

“If telling school principals ‘It’s time to stop moaning and start teaching’ is the best Chris Carter can do, he will need to prepare for a revolt on an even greater scale than he is already facing.

“This policy has been consigned to Never-Never Land.”

ENDS

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