Healthy scroggin and fruit pottles are replacing chips as lunch for some Mt Roskill schoolchildren.

School is back and the homework battle is about to begin.

If I was a greedy, grasping, socialist, I would be totally underwhelmed by Labour leader Andrew Little promising free "post-school" education.

The newly appointed vice-chancellor at Canterbury's Lincoln University says he wanted to find out more about the tertiary institution before he took on the job.

This time last week, Labour leader Andrew Little announced in his state of the nation speech that come the glorious day when Labour is elected Government, tertiary education will be free.

The case for sparing the taxpayer the cost of tertiary education by applying a "user pays" principle looks pretty shaky when the user and the taxpayer are the same people, writes Bryan Gould.

Academics at Lincoln University livid after unwittingly taking part in an interview with their future boss.

Free study far easier to boast about than secretive trade deal that prioritises multinationals.

Free tertiary education is a daring reversal of the thrust of educational and economic policy of the past 30 years.

Labour leader Andrew Little says any unfairness in Labour's scheme for three years of free tertiary education will only be short term.

A summer reading programme run by Auckland Libraries has helped more than 12,000 children keep on top of their reading over the long holiday break.

Feel-good soap can't fix back-to-school challenges, so it's up to us now, writes Deborah Hill Cone.

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce says Labour's new no-fees policy will take from the poor to give to those studying for lucrative jobs.

NZ Herald talks to Rebekah Bradfield who is starting Year 9 at Westlake Girls High.

As students pack their bags and check their uniform fits, Kirsty Johnston speaks to several about their year ahead.

Three years' education would cost $1.2 billion from 2025 but universities fear it would worsen under-funding.

Anirudh Bhatnagar is looking forward to his last year of high school at Mt Roskill Grammar.

Labour has announced a multi-billion dollar plan to provide every New Zealander with three years of free tertiary education.

A month seems a long time out of school. It probably seems even longer to the pupils of Auckland's St Cuthbert's College who spend a month in a remote outdoor education centre in the Bay of Plenty....

A survey has revealed growing class sizes, pay levels for teachers and an increase in technology are among concerns for Kiwi parents.

NZ Herald talks to 5-year-old Kiara Hillman who is back to Cannons Creek School in Porirua.

The senior student behind a rousing school speech has come through chemotherapy: 'I am officially in remission.'

The Serious Fraud Office has confirmed it is investigating Intueri Education Group.

To entice kids on to her walking school bus, Kerry Sorensen-Tyrer sometimes dresses up as a pukeko.

Education consultant Jayne-Ann Young has dedicated more than half her life to making the lives of young people better.

The 54-year-old is one of about 4000 Kiwis living with a form of MS - a disorder of the central nervous system that affects the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.

The New Zealand Principals Federation has called on the Government to put a stop to more charter schools opening.

Labour have come out swinging on National's failure to deliver on education 'promises'.