Accountability for public funds is the issue, not Te Kohanga Reo

Quality Public Education Coalition

“Minister of Education Hekia Parata has done a huge disservice to public education with her mismanagement of the inquiry into the spending of public funds by the Te Kohanga Reo National Trust,” says Quality Public Education Coalition Chairperson Bill Courtney.

“This inquiry should only have been about subjecting the charitable and private sectors to exactly the same standards of transparent accountability for spending Vote Education dollars as is the case in the public sector.”

This National government is determined to impose public private partnerships and the delivery of education services by third parties, such as charter schools. What Minister Parata has shown by her actions in commissioning a flawed inquiry into the use of public funding is that the National government is just as determined that the private use of use of public funds should also be a private matter.

“Kohanga reo make a vital contribution to the public education service. The quality of education they provide is already subject to public scrutiny just like any other public education service. The issue here is transparent accountability for the use of public funds, not the quality or value of kohanga reo.”

ENDS

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