As more Kiwis describe themselves as having no religion, it's hardly surprising that the teaching of Christianity should rub against modern concepts of rights.

Religions do a little good and a lot of bad, says Paul Little.

The chief of the Churches Education Commission, Simon Greening, and survey author David Hines present their views on the debate over religious education programmes in schools.

A primary school's board of trustees has been taken over by the Govt, after refusing to implement controversial National Standards data - a move labelled alarming and heavy-handed.

When politicians talk about making the labour market more flexible, it means ensuring that the demand and supply of labour determines the wage rate. writes Peter Lyons.

Schools have handed down more than 4,700 suspensions in the past 18 months, with one high school using the punishment more than 100 times.

Schools are illegally pressuring difficult students to leave and an independent authority needs to be set up to review expulsions and exclusions, a community law advocate says.

Schools are going through the "hurtful" process of choosing to drop religious instruction, with boards of trustees working through passionate arguments from parents on both sides of the debate.

For All Black Kieran Read, widely regarded as one of the world's best loose forwards, enjoying his final school years was more important than playing winning rugby.

School's back today after the holidays - but not all students will be. And in many cases it's the parents' decision to let them skip classes.

Schoolboy rugby in Auckland has lost any notion of egalitarianism and the world famous 1A competition is now divided along financial lines.

Editorial: The importance some schools place on rugby success is obvious in NZ, but does it go too far, hampering the education of students.

Parents who remove their children from classes to take cheap flights and holidays are part of the reason 62,000 Kiwi kids miss school each week.

The University of Otago has comprehensively topped other New Zealand universities in the latest league tables measuring student performance.

When it comes to fixing skills shortages in IT, engineering, technology and trades, 73.8 per cent of those who responded to the Herald's CEO survey wanted to see more funding for tertiary education.

Children in early-childhood education, ages 3 to 5, are to be given ID numbers.

National education data shows schools are not meeting ambitious targets set by the Government as part of its better public service targets.

Kirsty Davis knows the lifestyle of celebrity mums is unattainable for her, and she's happy with her reality.

More than 100 schools that kicked out students for bad behaviour, including arson, physical assaults and drug use, have been made to re-enrol the same students again.

In a new column, we look at some long-forgotten New Zealand events. Today, the Waikino School shooting of 1923.

Principals are getting their salaries topped up by as much as $29,000 for extra work .

Identification numbers attached to children as young as three could be used to track and punish their parents.

Former Bay of Islands College principal Elgin Edwards is fighting to get his job back, admitting he made mistakes running the school before being sacked last year.