media release

TUESDAY 16 OCTOBER 2012

Government Backs Innovation in Education

The introduction of the Education Amendment Bill 2012 will see a new kind of innovative schooling created in New Zealand.

Maxim Institute Senior Researcher Steve Thomas says the bill, which makes provisions for Partnership Schools (Kura Hourua), shows the Government is backing innovative approaches to helping disadvantaged school children.

“The Partnership School model creates the freedom for school leaders to try new and different approaches to education or to bring successful approaches to communities that may not have experienced them before,” says Thomas.

“This is important for working out which ideas might help those children for whom the regular state school system is not effective.”

Thomas says Partnership Schools, which are also known as charter schools, have had mixed success overall overseas, but some have shown good results under certain conditions.

“When a school has a clear mission, such as to help low-income children achieve better educational results, and strong lines ofaccountability it can make a big difference to a child’s learning.

“It is exciting to see this opportunity being introduced in New Zealand—the important thing now will be to ensure the right providers are chosen and the right accountability systems are put in place.”

ENDS

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