Students at a struggling school in Northland are the victims of the Education Minister’s failed charter school experiment and she must personally ensure they are given the educational help they need, the Green Party said today.
Education Minister Hekia Parata approved Te Kura Hourua ki Whangaruru as a charter school in 2013, despite Ministry of Education concerns it had not outlined a "safe environment" for students. An ERO report released on the school today showed it had struggled from the beginning.
“These kids were used and abused by the Education Minister who needed a range of schools for the first round of her charters experiment,” Green Party education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty said.
“That charter school experiment is failing and the Education Minister must say what she is going to do about the children who are hurting as a result.
“Despite the Whangaruru whanau’s best of intentions, the school was clearly not ready to be opened. The Ministry warned the Minister about this, but she opened it anyway.
“Many of Whangaruru’s students were already struggling and deserved the best that the state had to offer. Instead, the Government has washed its hands of them.
“Minister Parata personally approved this school, now she needs to personally ensure that the kids caught up in this mess get the support they need to access the education they are entitled to,” Ms Delahunty said.
