August 25th 2008 -- For immediate use
Public schools should be publicly owned, operated and funded
Public education in New Zealand should be owned, operated and funded by the government, the education union NZEI Te Riu
Roa says.
NZEI was responding to National Party education spokeperson Anne Tolley's statement that National was looking at
allowing private developers to build and own new state schools.
NZEI President Frances Nelson said schools' ability to undertake teaching and learning should not be compromised by an
outside party such as a private developer.
The private developer would obviously put profit first which could bring huge uncertainty into education if they pulled
out or sold off schools. In the long term, our children and their learning would be the losers."
Ms Nelson says schools and their building are at the heart of our communities and one of our most important public
assets.
"If a Government moves away from public ownership of schools, the extent of its commitment to public education must be
in question," she says.
She said while private developers building and owning schools would make the Government's books look good because the
capital cost would be borne by the developer, the long term costs to the taxpayer of leasing it back from the developer
could be higher.
Experience overseas showed that public-private partnerships had resulted in a number of problems. These included schools
and their communities losing access to schools after hours because they were leased to other users to make them more
profitable to the owners; commercial contracts with private developers that allowed less public scrutiny of the real
costs; difficulties for schools in ensuring adequate upkeep and maintenance; and lower paid and less secure jobs for the
employees involved in building maintenance.
ENDS