New scholarships scheme more a lottery than anything else

Victor Vito was the recipient of a scholarship to Scots College under Jenny Shipley's government. Photo / Getty Images

I've just got back from an unusual press conference about the Government's new Aspire "scholarships" to private schools where the star act was Hurricanes and Sevens player Victor Vito.

I was the only reporter there. That hasn't happened since the 1993 election campaign when then Prime Minister Jim Bolger, Finance Minister Bill Birch, and Paul East (Crown Health Enterprises) held a press conference in Papakura on National's social policy and I was the only reporter there.

This was a bit different and not quite as intimidating. It was with Heather Roy as associate education minister, and Vito, whom I admit I had not heard of until today. He tells me he plays flanker or No 8.

There was also a third form class from Wellington College, including Heather Roy's son, and they gave me a quick education on who Victor was and whether he was good enough to make the All Blacks one day - apparently he is. They asked plenty of questions, mainly of Victor, as did parents, including Heather Roy's husband. (Maybe Bronagh should consider turning up to Monday's post cabinet press conference to ask a few).

Victor agreed to turn up for the presser to support the new Aspire scholarships because he himself was the recipient of a similar one to Scots College under the Jenny Shipley-led National Govt.

He is in his final year of a BA and has just bought a house for him and his mother to live in.

He is clearly a successful, intelligent and confident young man.

He said he would not have achieved what he has in sports and academically if it weren't for the scholarship to Scots.

I am not so sure and we'll never know - he went to St Bernard's in Brooklyn and said he probably would have gone on to St Pat's Town if he had not gone to Scots - and if it is anything like St Pat's Silverstream I would say it recognises and fosters the best in kids.

Labour scrapped the scholarships when it came to office in 1999. What is being offered now is not quite a scholarship scheme but a lottery to qualify for Act policy, in which funding follows the student to a school of his or her choice.

Essentially all eligible applicants for Year 9, 10 or 11 (form three, four and five) will go into two draws to be held in October and the winners will get up to $15,000 a year for fees and $1500 for course costs at a school of his or her parents' choice for every year of their secondary schooling.

There is an income and asset test: the kid has to come from a home with an annual income of $65,000 or less and a net worth of $150,000 or less (renting or having a big mortgage would help). And they cannot be the beneficiary of a trust.

Unless the kid's principal says the applicant is a complete delinquent or is a completely hopeless case, the application will go in the draw for 150 places next year, another in 2011 and another 50 in 2012.

I'd call that a lottery and a pretty generous one.

Pictured above: Victor Vito was the recipient of a scholarship to Scots College under Jenny Shipley's government. Photo / Getty Images

Audrey Young