H.S. board wants P.M. to resign

Press, 24 February 1988, Page 2

H.S. board wants P.M. to resign

Timaru reporter The Timaru High Schools Board wants the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, to resign as Minister of Education. The chairman, Mr David Slade, said yesterday that his board believed Mr Lange could not satisfactorily perform two jobs as Minister of Education and Prime Minister, especially given the present state of education. Education had reached crisis point in New Zealand and it was made worse by the Government’s high-handed approach and lack of consultation with teachers and school boards. A meeting of the board on Monday evening unanimously supported a vote of no-confidence in Mr Lange. The secretary, Mrs Robin Prowse, was instructed to write a letter to the Prime Minister, asking him to relinquish the education portfolio. The letter was sent yesterday. Mrs Prowse said it was the first time the Timaru board had asked a Minister of Education to resign. Shortages of buildings were now apparent and teachers of economics,

mathematics, science, and other related subjects had been overwhelmed with pupil numbers while the demand for art subjects — ■ history, music and foreign languages — had dropped alarmingly, Mrs Prowse said. The board was also annoyed that rumours of proposed changes in education, such as the fourterm year, had surfaced without direct information from the Government. Teachers were angry that the Government no longer treated them as professionals. “The whole thing has now escalated with the cleaners and caretakers’ strike, State Sector Bill, and P.P.T.A. rolling stoppages,” said Mrs Prowse. “The board feels the Government no longer has a social conscience.” Copies of the letter seeking Mr Lange’s resignation were also sent to the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger; the member of Parliament for Timaru, Mr Maurice McTigue; the Education Department, the PostPrimary Teachers’ Association, and the Secondary School Boards’ Association.