COOLS TO BE FROZEN OUT OF LEGISLATION

'Today we celebrate that another unwelcome policy will be removed from legislation,' said Whetu Cormick, President of the New Zealand Principals' Federation (NZPF).

'Communities of On-Line Learners (COOLS) were proposed by the previous Government, and eventually enshrined in legislation,' said Cormick.

'The Federation was not supportive of the initiative, mainly because it opened the door to private providers of on-line schooling in New Zealand, and undermined quality public education.'

The intention of the legislation was to provide more online learning options, increase opportunities for accessing more academic subjects, provide competition for Te Kura's (Correspondence School) online provision and enable private providers to deliver some or all of a student's education.

COOLS, like charter schools, would not be required to teach to any particular curricula and could use non-registered teachers.

'One of our major concerns about COOLS was that young people learn best when they have a professional qualified teacher and are surrounded by peers who are interacting with them,' said Cormick.

'Our young people need a holistic approach to their learning and COOLS could never achieve that,' he said.
ENDS

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