by Catherine Delahunty
I’m not a morning person at the best of times, and trying to understand what the Minister of Education was saying on “Morning Report” today about cuts to the Ministry of Education cuts was a true challenge.
Is this an opposition beat up? Is the Minister directing the Ministry to cut administration services? Is it a staff reduction at the Ministry with a purpose other than cost-cutting?
The only clear fact was a figure. $25 million dollars will be cut from the education budget over the next three years. And yet with the other hand, the Government has given a $35 million dollar gift to private schools! I am still utterly bemused by this when the needs in the public education sector are steadily growing. Purging the bureaucracy of any fat always sounds so responsible, but who is losing their jobs, and what will happen to the work they did?
It was completely impossible to get a clear picture from the Minister this morning, let alone any indication of and the real consequences for schools, teachers and children. It might be better if the Government just came out and said “we are cutting public education” – the “reshaping” rhetoric is clearly not working for them at the moment!
Published in Media | Parliament | Society & Culture by Catherine Delahunty on Thu, March 11th, 2010
Tags: anne tolley, Education
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on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
Catherine, it is always a true challenge trying to understand what the incumbent Minister of Education is saying, but I took it the same way you did: an egg gets “reshaped” when you stand on it.
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It’s a rolling maul, sprigs and all.
(eye-gouging, ear-biting and hopoata-ing to come)
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“Hopoate-ing“, ‘fly. And he played League, not Union.
But there’s probably some of that going on too.
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Giving me the finger for my spelling, eh Toad!
I was refering to Bill Hopoata , New Zealand’s leading Proctologist.
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Demos looked at British and Canadian budget cuts:
http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/getting-more-for-less
As I understand their position, the line-by-line review which has already happened, should have delivered a list of lines to cancel entirely.
I’m not sure whether the minister’s announcement is based on a not-yet-revealed list of specific programme cancellations, or whether he’s telling the ministry to do everything they do now, but badly.
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