Steven Joyce, the minister in charge of Novopay, says debt collections have ceased following revelations teachers were being chased for overpayments as low as $22.

The Novopay debacle has hit a new low, with revelations the payroll company and debt collectors are chasing teachers for overpayments as low as $22.

Schoolchildren have got worse at basic arithmetic skills since the introduction of new teaching methods designed to lift the country's poor performance in maths.

Almost half of New Zealand preschools are charging parents for what is supposed to be a free government-funded service, according to a Herald on Sunday investigation.

A Herald on Sunday investigation has found nearly half of all early childhood providers surveyed supplement their 20 hours Early Childhood Education with extra "optional charges".

Thousands of Kiwi teachers are at risk of developing serious voice problems because of high noise levels and poor acoustics in classrooms.

Education Minister Hekia Parata has been quizzed for the first time since responsibility for the Novopay debacle was taken off her hands.

Call centres set up to deal with teachers' payroll problems have taken more than 800 calls after the first pay round of the school year, with hundreds of problems reported.

Angry parents in a small coastal town claim changes to a school bus route will put children's lives at risk.

The Korean parents of a Year 7 student are being billed more than $6000 by an Auckland school for helping to improve his knowledge of English.

Prime Minister John Key says Education Minister Hekia Parata will be safe in an upcoming Cabinet reshuffle, despite her troubles last year, because she is hugely talented and one of National's best communicators.

Editorial: The charter schools proposal has not been so contentious that the Government would fear its exposure to criticism. Since the critics are mostly busy teachers the legislative calendar might have done them a favour,

Several months ago, Education Minister Hekia Parata called a meeting in her office to discuss the vexed issue of Christchurch school restructuring. Post Primary Teachers' Association president Robin Duff was among those invited to the evening meeting.

The Government has spent more than $1 million on consultants as part of the switch over to Novopay, but ignored the results, Labour says.

2013 will see an escalation of an ideological war over the heart and soul of schooling in this country, writes Peter O'Connor.