A scheme launched by the Government to provide children from less privileged backgrounds with a private education has been criticised by principals of schools in East Manukau.
A SCHOLARSHIP scheme to give teenagers from low-income families the chance to get a subsidised private education has been described as a “slap in the face” for state and integrated schools.
The principals and boards of trustees of several East Manukau colleges are voicing their opposition to the Ministry of Education’s Aspire programme.
The scheme offers pupils the opportunity to apply for a scholarship, which subsidises private school fees by up to $15,000 a year.
An additional $1500 is available to cover costs such as uniforms and school trips.
Applicants need to be in years 9, 10 or 11 and fit a range of criteria, including having an annual household income of $65,000 or less to apply for the scholarship.
Paul Daley, principal of Sancta Maria College in Botany South, says the $2.6 million taxpayer-funded programme is a “slap in the face” for public schools that are already suffering funding shortfalls.
“It sends a message that state education is not good enough and we should give these people the chance to go to private education – the implication being it will be better for them,” Mr Daley told the Times.
Eligible applicants were selected randomly in ballots last year.
Fifty students in each year group have been selected to receive the scholarships this year.
That figure will increase to 200 next year and 250 in 2012.
Successful applicants must enrol at a private school within eight weeks, or the scholarship is terminated.
He says: “If this Government thinks that $15,000 is a good figure to pay for a student to get an education, why aren’t they giving that to our state schools?
“If I got $15,000 per student, then I’m sure I could offer anything that any private school could.”
Howick College’s new principal Iva Ropati – who previously led One Tree Hill College, a decile-three school – says the Government’s scheme is “concerning”.
“When scholarships like this come along, they suck out the kids with potential,” says Mr Ropati.
“Those kids are the ones who are future leaders of the school, the role models and kids who set the tone.
“They [the Government] should be pushing that resource back into schools like ours.
“Let’s give the kids a private school education in a state-funded school.”
Mike Williams, of Pakuranga College, agrees. He says the programme “effectively tells the community that [public school education] isn’t as good”.
“For us, the overlying insult was ‘you’re a poor person in a low-decile school, we’ll help you go to a ‘good’ school’. It’s saying ‘low-decile is bad, high-decile is good and private schools are even better’.”
However, Steve Cole, principal of St Kentigern College in Pakuranga, welcomes the scheme because it promotes freedom of choice.
Mr Cole, who joined the private Presbyterian school last year, was a headmaster in the 1990s when the similarly-focused Targeted Individual Entitlement (TIE) scheme was in place. He says he saw some “tremendous successes” in students from a range of backgrounds who received TIE scholarships.
Mr Williams supports freedom of choice in education, but believes that subsidising students to attend private schools is a waste of taxpayer dollars.“It gives them that choice, but you can’t give that choice to everyone. I’m sure that money could be far better spent.”
Allan Vester, of Edgewater College, adds: “Their [the Government’s] argument is that a number of private schools – they are very vague about how many and which – are struggling to survive and, without increased funding, might go under.
“Those students would then come back into the state sector, which would struggle to cope with the extra numbers. I have yet to see any substantive analysis of that reasoning.”
He points to Prime Minister John Key’s public school background.
“The PM speaks about his own upbringing in a state house with his mother working to support the family.
“I don’t remember him saying that he needed a private school education to achieve to the level he has.
“This country is currently led, driven and made prosperous by people who went to local schools in communities the width and breadth of New Zealand. Is that not the sort of New Zealand we still aspire to?”
The Times has emailed the Ministry of Education a series of questions related to issues raised by school principals but had received no answers by deadline.
However, Heather Roy, associate minister of education, has said in the past: “Parents are best placed to decide the education model that suits their children’s needs but, for many, a private schooling is out of reach.
“These scholarships will place choice in their hands and assist with the costs associated with attending a private school of their choice.”
