Deeply concerning advice offered by the Ministry of Education
PPTA News December 2009, p. 9
After months of official information requests and letters to the Ombudsman, a review of the alternative education system has finally been released to PPTA – and it looks as though its findings may not sit well with the minister of education.
On 30 October Anne Tolley released a statement saying alternative education contracts with schools will be extended for 2010. This is in the face of deeply concerning advice offered by the Ministry of Education suggesting closing down alternative education centres and reintegrating troubled students into secondary schools.
The Findings of Review of Alternative Education and Future Directions document suggests school-based intervention instead of alternative education centres but provides little substantive advice on how to achieve this – a fact that concerns New Zealand Secondary Principals’ Council (NZSPC) chair Julia Davidson.
“The ministry seems to think that early intervention, high expectations of students, good relationships and national standards will remove the need for alternative education, when those of us on the ground know it will take a lot more than that,” she said.
Tolley’s release about the roll-over of alternative education contracts says “there will be some changes from next year as a result of the review, but further work is needed to get better outcomes for alternative education students”.
The minister was handed the report on 29 May, yet it has taken two requests under the Official Information Act and complaints to the Ombudsman to get the 17page report by late November. The proposed timeframe for the report’s implementation hinged on the minister agreeing to its recommendations.
If she had, the plug would have already been pulled on every alternative education and activity centre in the country. The review also admitted that the alternative education sector has been overlooked in terms of financial support and that a failure to increase funding in the last 10 years had not helped.
“The delay in releasing this review seems to indicate that there are parts of the ministry’s advice that she (the minister) does not like, and in this case her opinion is shared by NZSPC,” Julia said.
“While the report’s focus on intervention early in the life of the problem is an ideal response, in the current context of funding, it’s not a response that is available to most schools, most of the time.
“The report speaks of a multi-systemic, multi-agency approach, but provides no detail on how this might be done,” she said.
While the alternative education system, as it is, is not an ideal solution, it is better than nothing at all, she said.
“I don’t see anything in this review that suggests a better option.”
Both PPTA and NZSPC will be keeping a close watch on the alternative education situation in the coming year, Julia said.
“We are going to continue letting the Ministry of Education know that we care about the students and teachers in alternative education and activity centres, and that we want to see some real answers.”
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