Wednesday 19 March 2014

19-20 March 2014


Te Pataka Ohanga referred to Serious Fraud Office

Hekia Parata | Education
Education Ministers Hekia Parata and Dr Pita Sharples have referred matters relating to Te Pataka Ohanga, a private company owned by the Te Kohanga Reo National Trust Board, to the Serious Fraud Office. Ms Parata and Dr Sharples commissioned Ernst and Young to review the public funding provided to the Trust and establish that there were proper financial controls around the funding for 460 kōhanga centres and the 9,000 children enrolled in them.

Release of independent audit into Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust

Hekia Parata | Education
Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Minister of Education, Dr Pita Sharples have released the independent review of Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust, which shows the Trust’s financial controls are effective. “The Trust receives around $92 million per annum in public funding. It was important, given allegations about inappropriate credit card use at the Trust’s private company Te Pataka Ohanga, to establish that there were proper financial controls around the public funding provided for kōhanga reo,” Ms Parata says. ... 

Kohanga mis-spending claim referred to SFO

Radio New Zealand
Education Minister Hekia Parata has referred what she describes as unsubstantiated allegations of mis-spending by the commercial arm of theKohanga Reo Trust Board to the Serious Fraud Office. Ms Parata on Tuesday night said an independent audit had ...

Last straw: Hekia Parata must go

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“This dismal performance comes hard on the heels of her weekend foray into performance-based decile funding, and other disasters such asCharter Schools, National Standards, the Canterbury schools' shambles and the class size debacle. “This is clearly ...

Peters says Parata and Sharples have got Kohanga inquiry wrong

Questions are mounting over the Education Minister's handling of claims of mis-spending by the commercial arm of the Kohanga Reo Trust.

Te Kohanga Reo happy with Ministerial report

The Kohanga Reo National Trust Board members are gratified by the results of the report commissioned by the Minister of Education, Hon Hekia Parata, into the board’s use of public funds.

Kohanga Reo probe avoids key claims

The Government is dodging questions about allegations of misspending by a company linked to Kohanga Reo after a press conference tonight where it claimed the firm had been cleared – before admitting none of the claims sparking its inquiry were investigated.

Kohanga Reo Trust washes hands of subsidiary's spending

New Zealand Herald
The Kohanga Reo National Trust says it is not responsible for how its wholly owned subsidiary company spends its money. The trust, which was cleared of misusing public monies by an Ernst and Young investigation, is still under fire for the credit card ...

Questions remain after Te Kohanga Reo Trust cleared

TVNZ
An independent Ernst and Young review into the trust's financial controls was launched in October last year after Lynda Tawhiwhirangi, the general manager of a subsidiary of the Kohanga Reo National Trust, was accused of using work credit cards for ...
Kohanga Reo probe avoids key claims
Kohanga Reo trust cleared over funding
Trust cleared of mis-using public money

Review clears trust over public funds

Radio New Zealand
Updated about 1 hour ago. Tweet on Twitter Share on Facebook. The Education Minister says an independent review of public funding to TeKohanga Reo National Trust Board has found there was no misuse of public money by the trust. Hekia Parata.

Kohanga Reo audit a 'whitewash'

Sunday Star Times
The Government's audit of the Te Kohanga Reo National Trust has been slammed as a "whitewash" by right-wing lobby group the Taxpayers Union. The comments come as the Government dodged questions about allegations of misspending by a company ...

Closing the gaps: Maori-Pacific report

New Zealand Herald
More Pacific and Maori students are doing better in the classroom - leaving high school with higher qualifications and better options in life. But there is still work to be done to further improve those results. Figures released by the Ministry of ...
Maori drop out rate alarms Parata

Novopay still causing problems

3News NZ
A recent survey by New Zealand Education Institute found an 83 percent rate of incidence. Twenty-five of 30 the schools randomly questioned said Novopay was still causing headaches. Up to 14 hours is now spent on payroll - previously, it was about four ...

Schools put our kids in 'boxes'

Stuff.co.nz
They liaise closely with the school staff in order to ensure the impact of policies such as national standards, larger class sizes, clear reporting, etc, doesn't filter down to mean their child has a negative experience of school. More recently, the ...

Closing the gaps: Power Up mentoring initiative gives Pasifika NCEA success

Tyler McCarthy knows that in order to get to where he wants to be one day, he has to work hard now.So when a mentoring programme started up at his church last year, he knew he had to get involved.The 16-year-old, a year 12 student...

Exam help to reach more students

Stuff.co.nz
She believed many children missed out on the right to a good education, and she hoped the support would eventually trickle down to primary schools as well. The changes stem from a review of the special assessment conditions required for secondary ...

Student achievement should come first

Stuff.co.nz
Just a week ago I had a highly regarded principal admit to me that the good thing about the implementation of national standards is that at principal association meetings, discussion nowadays is centered on improving student achievement and ensuring ...

Teacher-student ratio 'unacceptable'

Stuff.co.nz
We asked our readers to share their views on education policy and what changes would win their vote. I have recently taken my child out of public school to enrol in a private school because of the class structure and teacher to student ratio. His Year ...

Parata grilled in parliament

NZ City
The government has no plans to use student achievement as a basis for school funding or teacher salaries, parliament has been told. Education Minister Hekia Parata gave the assurance when she was grilled by opposition MPs on ... For the last two days ...

Classrooms of the future taking shape

When social sciences teacher Nigel Bassett moved into his new classroom he chose not to have a desk.Mr Bassett instead opted for a "teachers' pod", a lectern-like storage box that can be moved around his class in Carmel College's...

education system ain't broke

Stuff.co.nz
I believe the education policies of this government will greatly harm New Zealand's previously excellent education system. Many of the National government's changes have been based on policies previously adopted by countries with worse educational ...

School religious instruction 'inappropriate'

Stuff.co.nz
Parents and teachers expect children to listen and be receptive to what they are taught in the classroom. To allow church representatives an audience with our children in this situation is inappropriate. If church volunteers knocked at the door and ...

Parata backtracks over decile reform - Labour

Stuff.co.nz
Labour leader David Cunliffe says Education Minister Hekia Parata's denial the school decile funding system would be overhauled is the "spectacular sound of a minister in retreat". Over the weekend, Parata downplayed the idea of performance-based ...

Minister disingenuous with University Council claims - NZUSA

Voxy
The Education Amendment Bill (No.2) would reduce the size of the governing board of the institutions, called the Council, from the current twelve to twenty members to between eight and twelve. It removes all nominated stakeholder representation, apart ...

Kids cut school for overseas trips

Nearly one in five parents have taken their child out of school in order to go on an overseas holiday, according to a new survey.Schools say there is little they can do to stop parents removing their kids during term time, often...

School pilot for sexual violence prevention

Stuff.co.nz
The New Zealand Educational Institute's Palmerston North representative, Liam Rutherford, said prevention was always a good thing. "The issue with what they are suggesting here is only a drop in the bucket of what this area needs," he said. "This is ...

Ed Tech conference keeps NZ in touch with $86bn industry

Wellington is gearing up to play host to New Zealand and international education technology sector experts at the Ed Tech for Export 2014 (eT4e) conference in June.

Inferences of racism rejected by school

Stuff.co.nz
The Federation of Steiner Schools secretary Mark Thornton said anthroposophy was not taught in the classroom, but many teachers subscribed to its ideas in their personal lives. The ministry's investigations found no evidence of racist teachings at the ...

Applications open Rose Hellaby Maori Education Fund

Voxy
Legacy continues to inspire future MÄ ori leaders Guardian Trust and the MÄ ori Education Trust are again calling for eligible MÄ ori students to submit their applications for a valuable boost to their educationprospects. For the annual distribution ...

Preschooler health put at risk

Stuff.co.nz
Very fast-paced cartoons, aggressive or violent shows may be more detrimental than educational shows, but the bulk of evidence suggested it was the total volume, not just content alone that mattered, Hinkley said. The study found that young children ...

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