Responding to the release of the OECD’s latest Education at a Glance report, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“Since 2018, investment received by the Ministry of Education has increased by nearly 75%. Despite this, outcomes for our children are getting worse and worse by the year. Like with so many other departments across the public service, serious questions need to be asked about where this extra money has gone.

“Chucking billions upon billions more into the bureaucratic black hole clearly hasn’t been working, when this increasingly seems to be wasted on a growing culture of inefficiency across the public sector. With the Ministry of Education unable to tackle core problems like 40% of schoolkids still failing to regularly attend school, it’s no wonder Kiwi kids are being left behind.”

“Any incoming government needs to take a long, hard look at how taxpayers’ money is being spent, zero-base funding and do much more than just pay lip service to getting essential services like education working again.”

© Scoop Media