The Government is set to overhaul the decile system in schools. Minister of Education Hekia Parata announced today that new funding proposals are being explored to put children at the centre of the education system.
Parata says the new funding system will make investments in areas that will make the greatest difference, including a per child funding amount and additional payment for most at risk under achievers.
While the mechanism to roll out the new funding system is yet to be determined, some lower decile schools largely attended by Māori students are concerned the proposed system may not necessarily be to their benefit.
Te Wharekura o Manurewa principal mahia Nathan says, “It's a good idea but one must ask the question how the government or the ministry will then assess the needs of each individual student? The issue with that is the schools and teachers will be held with the responsibility of how to carry out assessments on each student.”
The funding review says there are currently more than one million children in the New Zealand education system and many are falling behind the pace of the curricular. The Minister admits it will be a challenging task to design the new education funding system.
