Education cuts not expected in Budget

Press, 12 June 1987, Page 2

Education cuts not expected in Budget

PA Wellington . Recommendations from a Ministerial Committee of inquiry into violence will "feature strongly” in next week’s Budget, said the Minister of Education, Mr Marshall, yesterday. ¥ There would ’ be some commitment towards education on parenting and funding on training in the early childcare sector, he told reporters. The inquiry, chaired by Sir Clinton Roper, proposed extended training for kindergarten and childcare workers,. equit-. able funding of 7 early childhood services, an extension of reading-recov- ■ ery tuition, and ; more teachers of Maori to spread taha Maori. It also suggested that the Police and Education departments r : , introduce Keeping;, Ourselves Safe programmes to all schools

as soon as possible and , that there be more emphasis on law-and-order education courses. Mr Marshall said the Budget, would be “relatively good news” for education./ : However, he warned that funding was tight for every portfolio this year as the Government had an overriding concern to reduce the deficit

.The Government,, had also been seeking expenditure cuts from each Minister. But Mr Marshall said that after the Budget round of talks he had emerged with no real cuts. He had, however, speeded up plans to sell surplus land. '

He said he had had a 67 per cent growth in the, education vote during the' last three years, but most of that had been spent

keeping up with inflation. Mr Marshall also said there would be a reference to a departmental mathematics research unit, in the Budget, and said that because the universities were not doing mathematics research, there was a real need for this work. “It is a matter of some' regret that it is an area which needs detailed, authoritative research in this country about the teaching of maths and about our mathematics skills and I hope that our critics from universities might take seriously their responsibility to invest in some research,” he said. However, apparently ■ there would be no relief for schools trying to cope with the serious shortage of teachers, particularly , in mathematics, science and Maori language.