Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

$2.6m paid for our free education

Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
By Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
News Director, Rotorua Daily Post·Rotorua Daily Post·
22 Jan, 2016 08:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh. Photo/File

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh. Photo/File

Rotorua families have contributed to the $2.6 million local schools received in donations, supporting "free education", according to new Ministry of Education numbers.

Just over half the schools in the Rotorua district saw an increase in donations in 2014 compared to 2013. This sum includes donations from families as well as any additional fundraising or grants awarded to the school. Overall, the amount of donations received by schools in 2014 was up on the total figure in 2013.

The figures reflect the sum of donations reported to the ministry by each school.

John Paul College reported the largest increase in donations, jumping from nearly $98,000 in 2013 to more than $600,000 in 2014.

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh said an increase in the number of international students could have contributed to his school's dramatic jump.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We have not increased our donations so the figure seems a bit off but we have made a real push to attract international students who bring significant revenue for the school and lower the financial impact on our domestic families."

Mr Walsh said the vast majority of families were happy to pay school donations.

"When there is a small number of families who can't pay the fees or donations, we don't insist on it and have an allowance in our budget to accommodate them but most parents understand their donations go towards providing the best opportunities and environment for their children to learn in.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We do our very best to minimise costs for parents, but the reality is there is a gap between the actual cost of running a school and the funding allocated to education by the Government," he said.

"The funding that is provided by the Government does not cover what parents expect schools to cover so as a school, we need to find ways to fund 'extras' such as new electronic devices and equipment, co-curricular activities such as music and the bus we run for students.

"The Government has a choice to make. Either fund the full operational costs of a school or allow schools to charge fees. If the Government insists it wants free education in New Zealand, it has to be funded," Mr Walsh said.

Ministry of Education figures show nationwide donations and fundraising went up $1.2 million from 2013 to 2014, reaching $161.6 million. That's $8.4 million more for New Zealand schools than in 2010.

Ngakuru principal and Rotorua Principals Association president Grant Henderson said if the Government wanted Kiwi kids to have access to free education, donations needed to be taken out of the equation to reveal the true shortfall.

"If you look at most school finances, it doesn't appear schools are struggling to stay open on the face of it.

"However, if you minus the donations and additional grants schools apply for, the true gap is clear. In 2014 we had a big fundraising effort for the upgrade to our school pool which is where the $22,000 increase in donations came from.

"This year we will be feeling the brunt of our decile increase and will be fundraising to keep our power on. This is an example of why we need to look at school finances without the top-up from donations."

He said while $2.6 million worth of donations looked like a large sum, if broken down into cost per pupil, the sum was not as alarming.

"I think that figure speaks volumes about what kind of community we as schools are operating in. Parents recognise the importance of their children getting a world-class education and are willing to help achieve that."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Labour's education spokesman Chris Hipkins this week branded "free" education a joke. He said when schools could not deliver the basics without donations it was time to sit up and take note.

But Education Minister Hekia Parata said parents contributed just $1.80 for every $100 spent by the taxpayer on education.

She said it was important the system allowed parents who were able and wanted to, to provide extra.

At the same time the country's poorest schools were still getting more from decile-related funding than high-decile schools pocketed from donations and fundraising.

Additional reporting by NZ Herald

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

11 Jul 12:26 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM

Mark 'Shark' Hohua died in June 2022 after a violent assault over money.

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

11 Jul 12:26 AM
Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

10 Jul 10:57 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP