Auckland Grammar School has refused to enrol Hillary Au-Yeung's year 9 son, despite him living in-zone and his older brother already attending the college. Photo / NZME
Auckland Grammar School has refused to enrol Hillary Au-Yeung's year 9 son, despite him living in-zone and his older brother already attending the college. Photo / NZME
A mother is dismayed with Auckland Grammar School after it refused to enrol her son, despite him living in-zone and having an older brother already attending the state college.
Hillary Au-Yeung asked the Ministry of Education to step in as her son had already missed a month of school.
Theministry’s director of education for Auckland Central, Jason Swann, approved Au-Yeung’s request for help and directed Auckland Grammar’s board to enrol her son.
However, the school is contesting the ministry’s direction and has still not enrolled the boy.
It comes amid what the Secondary Principals Association calls “massive” and “significant” roll growth at the country’s schools, creating additional pressure.
“We’re not talking 10 or 20 kids - we’re talking hundreds of extra kids [enrolling at some schools than what] the Ministry of Education predicts,” association president Vaughan Couillault said.
“And the schools have to take them. There’s nothing they can do. If someone lives in your zone, they are entitled to schooling at your school if they are a domestic student.
“None of us want children sitting at home, not accessing education. But the only thing you can do [with extra enrolments] is create teaching spaces not designed for teaching and find more teachers.”
Au-Yeung told the Herald she thought the school’s refusal to enrol her son was unfair, and now she has travelled from overseas to confront the school herself. She waited in the school’s office for hours this week hoping for a resolution.
“I don’t know why they declined my son. What shall I do? They’ve delayed this for over a month now, and I’m still waiting,” she said.
Au-Yeung, a New Zealand citizen, lives and works in Hong Kong while her two sons live in Auckland, in-zone for Auckland Grammar. Her sons are living with their grandfather in a property she owns. Photo / Michael Craig
Au-Yeung, a New Zealand citizen, lives and works in Hong Kong while her two sons live in Auckland, in-zone for Auckland Grammar. Her sons are living with their grandfather in a property she owns.
She claims, however, Auckland Grammar told her it wouldn’t enrol her younger son because he wasn’t living with a legal guardian.
“But all other schools, and the Ministry of Education, they recognise [his] grandfather as a qualified legal guardian,” Au-Yeung said.
“And my elder son, he’s studying in seventh form [Year 13] currently, and he’s living with this grandfather as well. But they accepted his application before, three years ago, so why not enrol my younger son?”
In a statement to the Herald, the Ministry of Education’s acting leader for the northern region, Leisa Maddix, said the ministry understood Auckland Grammar declined the application because it didn’t include enough evidence Au-Yeung’s son was living in-zone.
Maddix said: “After consideration and review of the process, the ministry approved a request to direct the school board of Auckland Grammar to enrol the student. The school has raised concerns with us about the decision, and we will continue to work on this issue.”
The Ministry of Education sent Au-Yueng a letter saying it didn't believe the Auckland Grammar board established any reasonable grounds her son wasn't living in-zone.
In a letter sent to Au-Yeung, Swann said he had approved her application for him to direct the school to accept her son.
“I have decided to approve your application because the ministry considers the board did not establish reasonable grounds that [Au-Yeung’s son] was not living in zone. I have written to the school informing them of my decision.”
‘The board did not establish reasonable grounds he was not living in-zone’ - ministry
Despite this, Au-Yeung’s son was today still not enrolled at school.
“He was waiting at the school yesterday [to be enrolled], and when I came, I saw he was not so happy. He’s feeling very unhappy. So I let him skip today and I waited there without him,” she said.
“I just don’t know why the enrolment is so complicated and cannot proceed. I would prefer my younger son to study at the same school as my other son.
“This is the key reason [I want him enrolled there], and also the school’s reputation is very good. This is why I bought a property [in-zone].”
Au-Yeung paid about $500,000 for the property when she first enrolled her eldest son three years ago.
Auckland Grammar responded to the Herald’s query about the issue saying the school’s enrolment process met the requirements of the Education Act. Photo / Greg Bowker
“This is very, very frustrating, and still I have no idea when he will be able to start school. It seems like they [Auckland Grammar] want to just delay and delay,” she said.
In a statement, Auckland Grammar said the school’s enrolment process met the requirements of the Education Act.
“[The school] applies enrolment guidelines consistently for all prospective in-zone enrolments for the purposes of equity of access and transparency.
However, “the school does not comment on individual applications”.
Auckland Grammar has its own enrolment scheme, which the school’s website explains is due to the likelihood of overcrowding.
Couillault said there was significant population growth happening in the central city, Flat Bush, Papatoetoe, Manurewa and Ormiston, adding additional staffing pressure.
“The influx of an additional 150,000 people doesn’t spread evenly across all schools in the country. A significant number of those students are also new to the country.
“So we need quick, effective property solutions and we need to look at our local quality teacher supply. These are all utopian and not easily fixed.”
Earlier this year, a 9-year-old boy’s mother was told her son wouldn’t be enrolled in their in-zone Flat Bush primary school because they didn’t have at least a one-year fixed-term tenancy.
The boy’s family had been living in Flat Bush for about a year but were on a periodic tenancy.
After receiving questions from the Herald, the ministry intervened and the boy was enrolled at the school.
“We have been working with the school to clarify the legislation and the ministry’s expectations that all children in New Zealand have the right to be enrolled in a state-school for which they are in-zone, regardless of the length of time on the tenancy agreement,” the ministry said.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
