14 March 2013
New opportunities for foreign corporates to profit from kiwi kids.

The National/Act Government has just laid out the welcome mat for large foreign owned corporations to receive huge tax payer subsidies to run profit-making schools in New Zealand, with potential to take over large parts of the education system in the future, the Green Party said today.

Two clarifications released this morning by the Governments’ tendering website GETS confirm that 100 per cent foreign owned corporations can apply to run charter schools immediately, and promises more opportunities for them to set up taxpayer-funded corporate schools in the future.

“New Zealand has one of the best public school systems in the world and we will protect the right of every kiwi child to a high quality, free public education at their local school,” Green Party Co-leader and education spokesperson Metiria Turei said.

“New Zealanders will be shocked to learn that large entirely foreign owned corporates have been invited to apply for significant taxpayer subsidies to expand into our public education system, not just now but in the future.

“Funding agreements already published show the taxpayer could pay more than $1 million to establish a charter school, and then much more than $1 million each year to run them.

“This is privatisation of our education system at its most extreme.

“The most insidious part of this plan is that the experimental first stage will be inflicted on vulnerable children in lower income areas.

“These are precisely the kind of kids who need the best education, by the best trained teachers, following the New Zealand curriculum, and to be offered the best and most recognised qualifications.

“Instead these children could be taught by unqualified people, or forced to spend hours longer at school each day as there are no limits on the school day, or even the size of their class.

“The National/Act Government pretends this is choice for lower income kids and compares it to the choice that more wealthy children have available to them through private schools.

“But they know that wealthy New Zealanders wouldn’t have a bar of charter schools.

“The group representing private schools have submitted against charter schools claiming that allowing untrained teachers threatens the entire education system.

“New Zealanders do not want untrained people teaching their kids and they don’t want to pay foreign companies to come in and erode our education system either,” Mrs Turei said.

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