Education Minister Hekia Parata is refusing to budge on Thursday's Christchurch schools closure and merger deadline in spite of an Ombudsman's Office investigation into the consultation process.

One of central Auckland's green spaces has been secured after a new lease agreement which will enable an 81-year-old teaching farm to carry on.

Prostitutes as young as 13 are earning up to $600 a night in South Auckland, says an MP who will be at a meeting to discuss an "outbreak" of underage street workers.

The Education Minister has accepted there's room for improvement after a rare move from the Ombudsman to investigate Education Ministry consultation processes

Out of 65 countries, New Zealand ranks seventh in reading, 13th in maths, and seventh in science, writes Peter Hughes.

It is now two months since the Government's trouble-shooting minister, "Mr Fix-it" Steven Joyce, was sent into the Education Ministry to sort out Novopay.

International students are being warned against working as prostitutes in a new Immigration New Zealand employment advice website.

An early childhood teacher who forged her qualifications is in prison awaiting sentence and has had her name removed from the New Zealand Teachers Council Register.

Police are considering trying to ban gang patches in New Brighton, Christchurch, after a flare up between gang members and ongoing intimidation.

The head of secondary school principals has criticised the Government for not doing enough to help schools combat the growing problem of bullying.

The Ministry of Education is bloated, inefficient and making the jobs of principals more difficult, says the outgoing president of the Secondary Principals' Association.

Head of the Teachers Council Peter Lind acknowledged today before a Parliamentary Select Committee it has been breaking its own rules.

New Zealand's continuous pursuit of economic growth is depleting the country's resources while failing to satisfy our material desires, says an Auckland academic.

Manu "The Beast" Vatuvei proved to be a big hit with a group of youngsters at Robertson Road School, in Mangere.

The Kiwi love affair with Asia may be waning with fewer now thinking Asia is important to New Zealand's future or viewing Asian immigration as positive.

Associate Education Minister John Banks had shares in Talent2 while on a committee that received updates on a planned rollout of the Novopay payroll system.

"Have you ever wondered why Asians kids are doing so well in maths and science at schools?" asks George Lim.

Results from international tests which placed our Year 9 students at the bottom of the developed world in mathematics make for depressing reading.

Schools will have to put up with Novopay for another eight weeks after the Government said today it would persist with the unstable system.

The Government has today announced a $6 million support package for schools dealing with issues from the Novopay debacle.

In this environment it almost defies belief that people continue to think they can fool the system, writes Shelley Bridgeman. Anyone who tries to cheat like this is clearly not thinking straight.

Immigration "hiccups", dodgy education providers and unscrupulous student agents are damaging New Zealand's export education reputation.

A compensation package for school staff affected by the Novopay debacle is "long overdue", Labour’s education spokesperson says.

Early education centres report eighty-five injuries each year - including amputation, impalings and brain injuries.