Leaders lash out at ministry
Educators worried lack of guidance and planning ‘shambles’ could cause irrevocable damage
Educators say a lack of guidance and planning by the Ministry of Education could cause ‘‘irreparable’’ damage to students’ education.
In lockdown level 3 some early childhood education (ECE) centres, primary, intermediate and secondary schools have been allowed to reopen at a limited capacity.
During alert level 4, the Ministry of Education provided information on going back to school and the Government rolled out a raft of distance learning tools as part of an $88 million learning from home package.
But not all education leaders are happy with the ministry’s response – voicing their concerns at the Epidemic Response Committee meeting yesterday.
Auckland Grammar School headmaster Tim O’Connor said the ministry had ‘‘no educational strategy in place’’ for secondary schools.
O’Connor said a national pandemic plan should have been put in place. He also criticised the ministry for failing to adopt a position of advocacy for secondary education.
‘‘To be frank, colloquially, it’s been a shambles.
‘‘Importantly, not the Government or the Ministry of Education have brought the sector with them,’’ he said.
Schools should have had nationwide access to a learning management system, basic professional development for online teaching, and a strategy that cared for senior students, particularly for year 12 and 13.
But there had been no support and limited detail from NZQA on
NCEA assessment, he said.
If secondary schools were not able to get senior students back into the classroom soon, the ‘‘damage would be irreparable’’.
Victoria University of Wellington vice-chancellor Grant Guilford said the financial fallout from Covid-19 was marked as revenue reduced ‘‘on all fronts’’.
Representing the tertiary sector, he said universities had taken a huge financial hit with the withdrawal of international students.
The sector was anticipating a swing from a pre-Covid-19 collective surplus of $115 million to a collective loss of $397m in 2021.
Victoria University was bracing for a $30m to $40m loss this year, with a ‘‘significantly worsening result in 2021 and 2022 if the borders remained closed’’.
Once the borders were reopened, Guilford said, the Government could help by approving mandatory quarantine facilities for foreign students.
Meanwhile, New Zealand students were not supported enough by the Government, and having to ‘‘borrow to live’’.
A possible solution could be the establishment of an emergency hardship fund or universal student allowance.
‘‘We do understand the students are suffering. It does irritate us a bit when we see the Government tossing rocks at the universities when we haven’t seen the Government yet step up,’’ Guilford said.
The ministry was currently working to finalise details about how schools and ECE will operate under level 2.
Academics have also called on the Government to boost funding for universities as they face redundancies and pay cuts because of the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 350 staff at New Zealand’s eight universities have signed an open letter addressed to Education Minister Chris Hipkins asking for more financial support and better working conditions.
The Early Childhood Council has also criticised the ministry – its chief executive Peter Reynolds saying there was a lack of ‘‘formal guidance’’ and that it had received ‘‘nothing from the Ministry of Education’’.
But New Zealand Principals’ Federation president Perry Rush said the ministry had been ‘‘incredibly nimble’’ in responding to the challenges of Covid-19.