‘Caution’ on Picot report

Press, 5 July 1988, Page 8

‘Caution’ on Picot report

The Picot proposals for education could see schools becoming less equal, Professor Ivan Snook, of Massey University, warned school principals yesterday. While the greater autonomy in finance and curriculum were to be welcomed, some caution was needed, Professor Snook said.

The O.E.C.D. report warned that in those countries that had local control of education, local political bodies could be more bureaucratic than central ones. “Thus, the schools would be less autonomous rather than more.” School could also become less equal, because the "free market" was not

far below the surface in Picot. “The free-market analogy is out of place in education. “Unlike restaurants,, the quality of the customers largely determines the quality of education.” Between 80 to 90 per cent of . the measured differences between schools was because of

the differences ih intake, Professor Snook said. Faced with a “flight” (white or other), the individual school was powerless, Professor Snook said. The new scheme would require co-operation between schools, not competition for the “best” students and extra resources.