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The Pigeonhole

Welcome to the blog of the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association / Te Wehengarua (PPTA), .... A blog that's not afraid to ruffle some feathers

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Government funding cuts hit the Ministry of Education

First they shuffle the money out of PD into National Standards, and perhaps out of the Behaviour Action Plan into Truancy action, now job losses

Apparently this will mean the Ministry will be more efficient,  and less bureaucratic  

Possibly the same logic that says cuts to staffing in schools will allow schools more flexibility?


National standards for patients

The government intends to introduce national standards that will enable patients and concerned observers to compare medical practices online, and potentially identify poorly performing doctors.

This comes after  political analysis of a new report revealed  30% of doctors have only a rudimentary understanding of human physiology and inappropriately low expectations, passing up opportunities to motivate and engage patients.


More to the picture

Posted by: Cynic

Surface readings

Today my head hurts from trying to follow up on a NZ Herald story that quotes from the Unesco report  Reaching the marginalised (Education For All global monitoring report 2010):

year 11 Maori students enrolled in kura kaupapa immersion schools did significantly better than Maori in English-language schools (p.206)

so I tried to follow up. I looked at Nga Haeata Matauranga (the Annual Reports on Maori Education)  


Cynic wishes her colleagues a Merry Christmas

Posted by: Cynic

Tagged in: Untagged 

I wish you good cheer as you take time to reflect on the past year
I wish you relaxation and success as I prepare - I confess -
for a 2010 that will be rough
that Anne, she likes to play tough
Don't be wooed by the soft picturebook story she sells - remember the message it tells
be happy with less ... 
fewer students to a class is not what she suggests
So merry Christmas and good cheer as we prepare for a new school year.