Less education claim

Press, 22 June 1984, Page 4

Less education claim

PA Wellington More pupils plus less funding equals less education is the combined message of nine education groups in a booklet entitled “Education 84: A Vote for our Future,” released yesterday. Budget figures show that in 1973, 17c of every Government dollar was spent on education, while today the figure was 11.7 c, the report said. In the same time the roll had grown from 842,000 students to 917,000. “New Zealand will not prosper if we continue to ignore today’s educational

needs,” the report said. “A strong commitment to education and education funding must be restored.” It makes 39 recommendations including calls for improved staffing from kindergarten to universities; realistic class sizes; curriculum revision to take account of changes in society, a reduction in continuing education course fees; a $4 million allocation for university research; recruitment officers to attract teachers from a wider socio-econo-mic and ethnic background; Maori instituted as an official language; a trustee

to promote Maori language and culture in all sections of society; special funding to meet the needs of immigrant groups; and a cost-of-living indexed bursary and a basic grant of at least $4ll. The nine-page booklet was prepared by the associations of free kindergarten teachers, post-primary teachers, technical institute teachers, university teachers, teacher trainees, university students, the Technical Institutes Students’ Services Association, the Educational Institute, and the Teachers’ College Association.