Ministry fudges figures to meet Maharey’s target

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Mon Aug 27 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Ministry fudges figures to meet Maharey’s target

Monday, 27 August 2007, 8:08 am
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

National Party Education spokeswoman Katherine Rich says she is unsurprised that the Education Ministry is telling principals to fudge figures given Steve Maharey’s track record.

“This is the man who thinks ‘free’ means some people pay more.”

Mrs Rich is responding to reports today that officials from the Education Ministry are telling principals to keep students on the books after they have left.

“This is nothing short of an absolute con. But it would appear to be in line with Steve Maharey’s ambition to arbitrarily cut school leaving exemptions by 75% without offering any new pathways for students who are disengaging from the system.

“It’s hard to see this target as anything other than a bizarre knee-jerk reaction to National’s concerns that some kids were leaving school, but weren’t attending genuine training or work opportunities. [1]

“Last year the Ministry approved 94% of all applications - virtually a rubber stamp process.

“The Minister has lost the plot if he tolerates the manipulation of enrolment information as the answer to New Zealand’s poor school leaver statistics.”

Ends

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