Rotorua principal to represent NZ

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh has been appointed to the Education Advisory Committee of the Australia Scholarship Group. PHOTO/FILE

A Rotorua principal has been cherry-picked to represent New Zealand's education system on an international level.

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh was "humbled and delighted" to be nominated as the country's representative on the Education Advisory Committee of the Australia Scholarship Group.

The committee is made up of one representative from each state in Australia and one representative from New Zealand. Mr Walsh, who was told of his appointment two weeks ago, will be replacing Brother Sir Patrick Lynch.

The committee gives strategic advice to the Australia Scholarship Group, which has more than AUD $1.7 billion (NZD $1.79 billion) in funds under management.

Mr Walsh will be responsible for reporting on trends, issues and initiatives from the New Zealand education sector.

"I am delighted to be invited to represent New Zealand on this influential committee. It is also a bonus to be recognised as an educational leader by another country, particularly Australia.

"There is a lot of interest in New Zealand's education sector as it is considered as progressive and innovative. I will be going to this committee to share the ideas we are rolling out, like Investing in Educational Success (IES) and communities of learning, and reporting on how they are going in our schools."

He said while it was a significant responsibility, it would not impact his role as principal at John Paul College.

"From a John Paul College perspective, the only thing that will change is that I will have to go to Melbourne a couple of times a year."

Mr Walsh said there were amazing things happening in Rotorua's education sector and those moving to the city should be assured their children would "get just as good an education as they would in any major city like Auckland or Wellington".