Unchartered territory
The new minister of education is under fire from his predecessor after reports of contracts being cancelled for the country’s four new partnership schools.
Chris Hipkins last night said Labour, NZ First and the Greens had campaigned to scrap the charter school model and they intended to honour that commitment.
Under the National Government, four partnership schools had been planned for 2019, with contracts signed with the Crown.
Hipkins said he had asked for urgent advice on the status of the four contracts. He understood the National/ACT government signed contracts with six new charter school operators in the weeks leading up to the election.
The four new schools due to open in 2019 included a new Vanguard school in Christchurch.
Vanguard Military School chief executive Nick Hyde said he was disappointed to find out through the media that the Christchurch one could be scrapped. Vanguard had achieved high NCEA results, in the mid90s, since opening and had a waiting list.
National Party education spokesperson Nikki Kaye said the cancelling of the school contracts would be hugely disappointing to the promoters of the schools and the families planning to send their children there.
Kaye claimed Hipkins had not yet met the sponsors of the schools, who had spent time and money securing the contracts.
ACT leader David Seymour, a strong supporter of charter schools, claimed Hipkins was in over his head.
‘‘If this is how he does business, then he is going to find Government very tough.’’