Tony Blair leaves rocky times at home

Tony and Cherie Blair talk to Australian hockey captain Nikki Hudson. Picture / Reuters

Tony Blair's contentious school reforms appear, on the surface, to have much in common with the National Party's education policy in New Zealand.

Central to both is the concept of "trust schools" - independent schools that control their finances, are run by parents, businesses or community groups and can expand and take over weaker schools.

When National announced the "trust schools" concept before the election last year it met stiff opposition from the Post Primary Teachers Association, which said it would increase divisions between rich and poor and have little impact on student performance.

In Britain, Mr Blair is facing tough resistance to his reforms from his colleagues who say the concept is akin to privatisation and undermines what the party stands for. He had to rely on Conservative MPs to push his bill through its second reading, after 52 of his MPs revolted.

Is the Blair model the inevitable direction of education policy in New Zealand? Education Minister Steve Maharey says not.

He believes Mr Blair's reforms are necessary to introduce meritocracy into the UK education system - the idea that no matter who you are or your circumstances, education should take you as far as you want to go.

He says it is not necessary in this country because New Zealand, along with Scandinavian countries, has all ready achieved that aim.

"At a philosophical level Blair is doing what we have always done with our education system. And at a practical level a lot of what he is talking about, we have already done."

Mr Maharey says the Tomorrow's Schools reforms of the late 1980s introduced parental and community involvement into schools, but that the concept of trust schools went further and was tantamount to privatisation.

"Do we need trust schools here? No, because the whole history of our schools are different to his [Blair's]. "

But National Party education spokesman Bill English says the Government's refusal to adopt such concepts means New Zealand is moving out of mainstream education policy.

"The people who are regarded as hardcore left in Britain are mainstream Labour here. We have one of the most ideological left-wing education policies in the developed world."

Mr English said it would benefit schools if they had much closer relationships - in the form of trust schools - with businesses and community organisations.

"The businesses get some of the things they want out of the education system and the schools gets stimulation from other points of view."

Mr Maharey said Tony Blair and the National Party wanted to employ trust schools for different reasons.

He said in the UK they were trying to address problems in the education system, while National was simply pursuing a privatisation agenda.

"These folks [National] are simply trying to smash up the social democratic schooling system."


Blair's reforms:
* Creation of "trust schools" run by parents, businesses or community groups.
* Failing schools must improve within one year or be closed or replaced. Interviewing of prospective students and parents will be banned.
* Powers of school staff to discipline students will be increased.