Ministry request criticised

Schools are expected to produce a charter by the beginning of the next school year - something that will be an inconvenience for parents, says Whangarei's new Labour Party candidate.
The candidate and Hora Hora School principal Pat Newman says the charter will also make sure National Standards are being implemented.
Every school in the country is legally required to come up with a charter that sets goals from property to literacy and defines what a school is about.
It includes an annual plan that focuses on specific areas of development to ensure the learning needs of all children in a school are met.
But a Ministry of Education "expectation" that schools complete their charters by the beginning of the 2011 school year instead of by the end of the year was pointless, Mr Newman said.
"It's the wrong time to do a charter and to go to parents and consult. It's the busiest time of the year and if you're a parent it's the last thing you'll want to deal with."
He said many students at his school now would not return in 2011 and it would make more sense to delay the charter until the actual number of students at the school was known.
In an internal "Ministry use only" memo, the decision for schools to have their charters ready by the beginning of the school year is referred to as an "expectation" and not a legal requirement.
"The legal requirements on boards have not changed. However expectations around good practice have. Boards would not be acting in good faith if they did not attempt to meet clear expectations set by the secretary."
The memo said the change would help schools plan more effectively and provide an early indication to the ministry of where additional resources might be needed.
Mr Newman said the comments suggested "blackmailing" schools into complying with a non-legal requirement. "Where is the evidence that shows the wishes of the secretary is actually best practice and not just her view influenced by her minister's directives?
"And when have clear expectations from one person equated to a board of trustees not acting in good faith?"
The memo said if schools did not provide an updated charter early in the year it would be difficult to provide them with any support other than support "to develop a robust character".
Mr Newman said that implied schools would receive no support for anything until they "jumped to the Secretary's of Education's wish to make her minister happy".
He said Maori schools were exempt from the expectation as they were trialling National Standards next year, which was what many mainstream schools had pushed for, but been refused.
It was Mr Newman's belief that the only trigger for requiring schools to produce a charter earlier was National Standards, and if schools didn't include them, their charter wouldn't be approved.
Ministry of Education group manager regional education and performance Kathy Phillips said it was reasonable to expect that annual plans be sent to the ministry at the beginning of the school year for which the planning was to take effect.
She said National Standards for Maori medium settings would be implemented in 2011, with schools expected to report on the standards the following year.