May 07, 2013
Ngai Tahu opposes charter schools
Ngāi Tahu is warning that charter schools could be open to corruption and fraud.
The Government wants to use Christchurch as one of the places it will trial the publicly-funded private schools championed by National’s support party ACT.
In its submission on the Education Amendment Bill, which is due for its second reading this week, Te Rūnanga ō Ngāi Tahu highlighted the lack of accountability created by exempting the schools from the Ombudsmen Act, the Official Information Act, and oversight by the Office of the Auditor-General.
The iwi said poverty was a bigger factor in Māori educational achievement than school ownership.
Ngāi Tahu says a better plan is to make all schools run He Kakano and Te Kotahitanga programmes, which have been proved to raise academic achievement.
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