How Did They Get It So Wrong?

new-zealand-first-party

Thu Jun 25 2015 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

How Did They Get It So Wrong?

Thursday, 25 June 2015, 11:38 am
Press Release: New Zealand First Party

25 JUNE 2015

The big turnaround in the decile rating of a Bay of Plenty school proves the Ministry of Education’s formula to calculate deciles, and ultimately the school funding, is seriously flawed, says New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Education Tracey Martin.

“Pukehina School’s decile rating rose from decile three to decile five in a Ministry review last year meaning a significant drop in per student funding for 2015 for the small country school.

“The principal, rightly, was concerned and contested the new rating leading to a review.

“Now the Ministry has changed Pukehina School to decile one – the lowest decile. How did they get it so wrong?” says Mrs Martin. “We know that Pukehina School is not alone with schools across Northland, Gisborne, Taranaki, Rotorua and Waikato hitting the news in recent days.”

The Ministry states that decile ratings are based on Census data for households with school-aged children in each school’s catchment area. The data uses household measures such as income, parents on a benefit, occupation, education and household crowding.

“Little Pukehina School has highlighted how flawed this data can be. New Zealand First believes there is a more reliable way of calculating school funding based on actual needs.

“We look forward to working with school communities to establish a system that works”, says Mrs Martin.

ENDS

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