Anne Tolley

The Ministry of Education has received a strong response to consultation on the South Dunedin schools review.

A parent of five former College Street School pupils has accused the school's principal of railroading parents into supporting the merger of their school, rather than providing "a democratic process of collaborative consultation".

It seems not everyone welcomes the South Dunedin schools review.

The Government moved swiftly to protect the fictional "little people" of the film industry, but has not showed the same commitment to the early education of New Zealand's own children, argues Darrell Latham.

The Ministry of Education has started contacting the boards of trustees of every primary and intermediate school in the country to find out their stance on National Standards.

Wanaka Primary School pupils return for the start of the fourth term today to a new $21.5 million school.

"When you kick teachers, you kick the kids." The slogan, being shaken on a placard, made the Post Primary Teachers' Association's message loud and clear during strike action in Dunedin yesterday.

Education Minister Anne Tolley provoked angry reaction when she hit back at about 550 principals opposed to National Standards and refused to stay for questions at a conference in Queenstown yesterday.

The first new state primary school to open in the lower South Island since the 1970s faced an estimated $75,000 electricity bill for the year because Government funding did not stretch to pay for a sustainable power system, Education Minister Ann Tolley was told in Queenstown yesterday.

The Government's proposed public-private partnerships in schools will "merely entrench inequality and disadvantage" schools, a senior lecturer at the University of Otago College of Education says.

The Otago Primary Principals' Association has supported its Canterbury counterpart, which has asked boards of trustees in the region to hold off on reporting national standards until fundamental flaws are acknowledged and a sector-driven fix is in place.

Education Minister Anne Tolley will be given a prime speaking slot at the National Party conference in Auckland in a week's time - as well she should be.

Few issues in education have aroused more parental attention than the implementation of national standards in reading, writing and arithmetic for primary and intermediate school pupils.

Dunstan High School was a pioneer in outdoor education and a new $2.3 million gymnasium facility would give its pupils a chance to shine at indoor sports as well, Minister of Education Anne Tolley said yesterday.

Education Minister Anne Tolley has come under fire from the Otago Primary Principals Association after she told listeners on a national radio broadcast that the first national standards reports due to be released by schools this week may not be 100% correct.

The Government is promising it will continue providing 20 hours early childhood education a week but ministers aren't ruling out changes that could mean parents paying more.

King's High School is hoping for a change of legislation from the Government to bail it out of a financial bind.