February 28, 2024
School build ban ignores roll growth
The principal of one of Aotearoa’s fastest-growing schools says the stop-go attitude of Government and Ministry of Education is affecting its ability to deliver good outcomes to students.
Education Minister Erica Stanford has announced an inquiry into the school property system and halted more than 100 projects, saying she wants to see a value-for-money approach.
Pāpāmoa College principal Iva Rōpati says that means cancelling work on the final two classrooms of the current upgrade.
He says the school has a roll of 1800 and is growing by 50 to 100 students each year.
“We can’t do it on the sniff of any oily rag. We need to be able to be supported with resources in order to do that, there’s only so much we can do. It just feels like we’ve been pushed in one direction and pulled back through government policy,” Mr Rōpati says