Students try to save school but to no avail

Pearl, Ruhiyyah and Ina Niu Pasoni were worried about moving across town but found Tamaki Intermediate to be a welcoming school. Photo / Doug Sherring

When the Niu Pasoni family moved from West Auckland to Panmure, daunted by the prospect of finding their feet on the other side of Auckland, the intermediate school provided them with new friends.

So last year, when the teachers at Tamaki Intermediate were unable to dissuade the Government from shutting down their school, the pupils stepped in.

A delegation of 11- and 12-year-olds pleaded with the board of trustees to save the school they loved but to no avail. Tamaki was a struggling school, in a poor neighbourhood, with a falling roll.

In 2008, an Education Review Office report told of improved buildings and facilities, improved staff morale and disadvantaged students proud of the good progress they were making in literacy and numeracy during their two years at the school.

But by last year, the roll had dropped to 148 children - half what it was in 2008. Education officials believed it was better to extend the five nearby primary schools to include year 7 and 8 students than to keep a dying intermediate school on life support.

The board of trustees surveyed parents: 87 per cent said they wanted the school to stay open. But wider community consultation by the Ministry of Education suggested the people of Panmure preferred to see their primary schools strengthened.

So in August last year, the school was advised that they would not be allowed to take in any year 7 students this year. And, when the remaining year 8 students finish classes this December and head off to secondary school, the school will be closed entirely.

What then? The green and expansive grounds, just across the road from the Tamaki estuary, could be land-banked for Maori Treaty settlements. They could be used for a special school. Or, says principal Tony Horan, the site could be used for one of the new business-sponsored charter schools being set up as part of the deal by which Act MP John Banks agrees to prop up John Key's Government. Officials have told Horan that is an option but nobody knows for sure. No decisions have been made.

Government MP Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga, whose Maungakiekie electorate includes the school, is planning public meetings to discuss the charter school concept next month.

Private business can play an important role in education, he says. "Down in Otara, there's a freight company that basically financially supports several schools. They want to be part of the learning and development of the kids."

Lotu-Iiga's main concern is to ensure open access to any such school. To put words in his mouth, he doesn't want it to become the preserve of the smartest kids, the best rugby players or those whose parents can afford hefty activity fees.

So if the business partner and structure were right, would he like the first charter school to open in his neighbourhood? "I'm always in favour of great outcomes for education in my electorate," he laughs. "I'm open to the idea of a charter school. I've spoken to the Ministry about it - they're looking at all the options."

Ruhiyyah Niu Pasoni, 24, acts as caregiver for her three younger sisters, as well as her 18-month-old daughter. The youngest sisters, Ina and Pearl, were at Tamaki last year when the school was given the bad news about its future.

They were upset. Ina, a smart and well-spoken 13-year-old, says: "I moved from Henderson Intermediate and I thought I was going to hate it at Tamaki because of all the new people. But the first day, there were smiling faces and I made friends. And the teachers really help you learn.

"Intermediate helps you assimilate into college. It's easier to go from intermediate to college than it is to jump straight from primary school. I'm sad, in a way. Knowing that the intermediate won't be there for the younger kids, it's sad."

She is sceptical about the idea of building a charter school on the site. "What would be the point? There's already a school there - Tamaki College is close."

But Ruhiyyah is more open to the the possibility of a charter school. "Some schools are short of money," she says. "We have to do fundraising for our own biology field trips. The Government can't afford to provide for all their needs, so if big business wants to step in with money that might help.

"If I was a millionaire and there was a school in front of me needing help, I would put my money in there. I think it's a good idea."

She is a tad cautious about big corporates, expressing alarm at the idea of a charter school run by McDonald's and warning that even a company like Microsoft might be more interested in training up programmers and engineers than providing a broad curriculum.

But some churches already run integrated schools, she says, so why not other religious groups, universities or businesses? "If a church can run a school, then why can't a business do the same?"