A government monopoly has created one of the most unequal education systems in the world, according to a new report.
UNICEF’s Innocenti Report Card ranked New Zealand 33 out of 38 countries on educational equality.
“For decades, Labour and National have propped up a monochromatic, one-size-fits-all approach to education that has seen
disadvantaged Māori and Pacific students slip through the cracks”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“ACT’s Partnership Schools offered a bright speck of innovation and a way out for kids that were failing in public
schools.
“Disadvantaged students that had been failed by the state system were engaged and succeeding under Partnership Schools.
Māori and Pacific students made up about 80 per cent of students at Partnership Schools.
“This latest UNICEF report shows Māori and Pacific students are less likely than other students to leave the education
system with a qualification, with only 71 percent of Māori staying at school until 17.
“These results make the Government’s decision to end the Partnership School model inexplicable.
“That decision will be a stain on the record of this Government, especially for those Labour Māori MPs that remained
silent.
“ACT will fight to make educational choice a top priority for any future centre-right government.”
ends