It is impossible to overstate the dire situation the New Zealand education system is in – and the future consequences for individuals, families and society as a whole.
It has been pointed out the Ministry of Education has grown from 2700 employees (already well and truly overblown and inefficient) to 4400 employees over the last 6 years. Completely inversely related to the achievement of students. The top 12 should already have walked with their heads hung low.
Recent critique is about the 20 building projects cancelled and the 350 on hold. This is not all bad as many of these builds will not be high value for money and ignore the changing nature of teaching and learning (e.g. www.mthobson.school.nz).
Rumour has it that the Ministry have told the Minister that any cuts to funding can only go as deep as 2% before property is affected. Nonsense. The 4400 Ministry employees come at an average cost of $103k per annum (and I wonder if that takes into account overtime, etc, the officials get but teachers don't). That totals to $453,200,000 for achieving very little (at best). Even the extra 1700 Ministry employees cost the taxpayer over $175,000,000.
ACT campaigned on taking the bureaucracies back to 2017 levels. That would only solve half of the Ministry of Education problem … but it would be a start.
There is not a child in New Zealand of lower inherent value than the Secretary for Education – Iona Holstead (who is paid around $600,000 per annum). It is well past time that things were realigned.
Alwyn Poole, a well-known figure in the New Zealand education system, he founded and was the head of Mt Hobson Middle School in Auckland for 18 years. Alwyn blogs at Education plus ... Challenging Mediocrity. - where this article was sourced.
Rumour has it that the Ministry have told the Minister that any cuts to funding can only go as deep as 2% before property is affected. Nonsense. The 4400 Ministry employees come at an average cost of $103k per annum (and I wonder if that takes into account overtime, etc, the officials get but teachers don't). That totals to $453,200,000 for achieving very little (at best). Even the extra 1700 Ministry employees cost the taxpayer over $175,000,000.
ACT campaigned on taking the bureaucracies back to 2017 levels. That would only solve half of the Ministry of Education problem … but it would be a start.
There is not a child in New Zealand of lower inherent value than the Secretary for Education – Iona Holstead (who is paid around $600,000 per annum). It is well past time that things were realigned.
Alwyn Poole, a well-known figure in the New Zealand education system, he founded and was the head of Mt Hobson Middle School in Auckland for 18 years. Alwyn blogs at Education plus ... Challenging Mediocrity. - where this article was sourced.
6 comments:
And the Minister for Education hired an official from the Ministry of Education as her top advisor. Stupid is as stupid does.
You need to add the consultants into this number.
It isn't just the profligate spending that is distressing.
As you well know it is the ideology which has been so destructive.
Forty years ago we interacted with Min. of Ed. in a court case which resulted in the introduction of homeschooling. Progressive education and the lack of teaching of basics was the issue. MoE techniques in attempting to destroy my mother teaching phonics can only be described as diabolical Among these techniques were for example asking schools to have witch hunts to discover and threaten those children in their school were attending her remedial reading out of school hours. The whole thing was recorded on a 20/20 TV programme and it was a public scandal in 1967.
Public education of the insidious nature of much of Progressive Education needs
to be viewed.
I suspect that many of the 4400 will be on fixed term contracts.
The solution is for the Minister to instruct the head honcho that he/she/they write to all informing them that none of these contracts will be renewed.
Simple remedies are almost always effective.
If those extra employees of MoE are on "fixed term" contracts they need to be re-assigned. There is always a need for people to clean the school toilets.
Yes ! I know that toilet cleaners are needed and they are not paid all too bad.
Boys always do it next to the bowl.
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