Families put ‘Idol’ before interviews

No to parent interviews, yes to Idol. Hundreds of De La Salle College students' parents apparently flagged parent-teacher interviews so they could stay home and watch the NZ Idol final.

Only 40 of the school's 900 parents turned up at the interviews - the worst ever for the college, which had expected about 600 to show up.

Principal Brother Steve Hogan said the interviews followed "very disappointing" senior exams in which some students skipped questions. Others who were expected to pass failed because of "poor effort, poor preparation or poor attitude".

But when it came to discussing the results with parents, Brother Hogan said: "We were sitting there just thinking, 'Where is everybody?'.

"We worked out it was Idol finals night."

He blamed Sir Howard Morrison's controversial comment - in which he described favourite Rosita Vai as "overweight" - for keeping parents glued to their TVs.

Even the teachers were keen to get home, he said.

"They were all saying, 'When can we go home? It's Idol'."

Brother Hogan said the lack of parental interest was "extraordin-arily frustrating" for teachers.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY