The inequitable education system

Alwyn Poole writes:

The New Zealand education system is in major trouble.

The gaps between New Zealand’s Asian population (67 per cent of school leavers with UE), European (44 per cent), Pasifika (22 per cent) and Māori (19 per cent) are a national disgrace and we have given up on believing it can be different.

That’s a shocking disparity.

Our ageing teaching population, our massive educational bureaucracy, many of the failing schools, the teacher unions, bizarre social media sites and blinkered politicians who use slogans and parrot nonsense to attempt to impress those in their own bubble, all lost the plot over 12 out of 2600 schools.

It came to a head in Parliament when some politicians felt they were naming and shaming these individuals and organisations in the House. One said that they had treated children “like dogs” and the Minister of Education even used the word “dodgy”.

The messages: If you are an educator who thinks there may be different ways of doing things, keep your head well down. To families; you better hope that your child fits the one-size-fits-all model or that you have enough financial means to make some choices in terms of where you live or schools you can access.

To those that don’t — including many of our Māori and Pasifika families — the inequities will be perpetuated in succeeding generations.

The vested interests couldn’t handle 12 schools that succeeded in trying a different model.