'We need more teachers per head of children, without which any number of reading or arithmetic fads politicians dream up are doomed to fail.' Photo / Thinkstock, File
Class action
Finland, with the best and most successful education system in the world, has a teacher-class ratio of one teacher to 19.6 students and until recently had no private schools. New Zealand has a teacher ratio of 1 to 28 and if we add to that our private schools which like to keep the teacher ratio between 1:10 and 1:15, many of our state schools harbour classes much higher than 28. Such disparity between learning environments is a breeding ground for the growing number of educationally underprivileged teenagers entering the workforce, enforcing a tiered society and the widening gap between rich and poor and exacerbating child poverty along the way. Politicians can introduce as many political point-scoring reading or arithmetic fads as they choose when the answer is as plain as the nose on your face. We need more teachers per head of children, without which any number of reading or arithmetic fads politicians dream up are doomed to fail. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
Best start
If National really is serious about raising the standard of New Zealand education, it would plough resources, teachers and parent education into new-entrant classes and give 5-year-olds success from the start. It is no use waiting to test at Year 3. By the time a child is 6 years old, they realise whether they are keeping up with their peers. Children are not stupid, they know when they are not achieving and give up, stop trying. Success breeds success but failure for a child is devastating and they often shut down. Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
Giving voice
The new law which enables people to self-identify their gender and change their birth certificates comes into effect this June. Whatever one thinks of the law, it will have an impact, which makes it a legitimate and necessary topic for discussion. It was inevitable that controversy over the law change would become heated but it is always important to hear both sides of any argument and I regret not having an opportunity to hear Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull. I think philosopher John Stuart Mill got it right when he said that if “all mankind minus one, were of one opinion” there would still be no justification for silencing or, in today’s jargon, “cancelling” that one person. In the relatively recent past the state severely censured expressions of opinion that were deemed “subversive”. Those who suffered included conscientious objectors during the world wars, unionists defending the right to withdraw their labour, communists and people who associated with communists. Now there is talk of outlawing “hate speech” but who gets to define “hate”? If it is to be an appointed authority or government, then its prejudices and self-interest will colour the decisions just as happened to yesterday’s “subversives”. Maire Leadbeater, Mt Albert.
Utter freedom
Your editorial (NZ Herald, March 27) asks how people wanting to promote their values can do so in a fair way. Lawyer and human rights activist Jacob Mchangama posits that it is up to each one of us to promote a culture tolerant of ideas while being vigilant to the reach of disinformation and agreeing to disagree without resorting to harassment. Further, he says, free speech is a principle to be upheld universally rather than a prop to be selectively invoked for narrow tribalist point scoring. Enough said. Glennys Adams, Oneroa.
Subsidised advantage
Guy Gifford’s opinion piece (NZ Herald, March 27) exposed the smoke-and-mirrors nature of school funding. Like others, I initially supported state funding for integrated schools. For some (now curious) reason I thought it would mean easier, more equitable access for those desiring a faith or philosophy-based form of education for their children. Of course, this didn’t happen. The already privileged from many schools simply lifted drawbridges; called existing high fees “donations”; continued to select students so results remained marketable; lowered class sizes because state funding largely covered salaries; and enhanced school environments and curriculum offerings (read libraries, gymnasiums, marae, science laboratories, IT, school trips). Some initially reluctant private schools did the sums and quickly chose to become “integrated”. The privileged always find ways to increase their advantage and most gains are at the expense of others. The huge disappointment, and something which needs urgent addressing, is that the state continues to subsidise and advantage “integrated” schools. This is to the detriment of learners in notoriously underfunded and minimally resourced state schools. The Ministry of Education and the Minister are cognisant of this. It is time to look critically at policy and funding models related to integrated schooling. Vicki Carpenter, Grey Lynn.
China crossroads
Your feature (NZ Herald, March 27) outlined the growing conflict of interests in the South China Sea and Pacific region between China and many Asian nations together with the West. China’s prosperity has stemmed from trade with the OECD and Western democracies yet could be in jeopardy unless tensions ease. Already, US companies are relocating their manufacturing bases from Chinese factories to new industrial complexes in northwestern Mexico, detrimental to China’s interests. The unwavering “unlimited friendship” with Russia is troubling for China’s image and alienation from the global economic system is not in its interests. Powerful figures in the Chinese Communist Party, however, are acutely aware of this and feel their moral brand is being devalued and the economy threatened by aligning with the Putin regime. A time for careful deliberation in Beijing. P. J. Edmondson, Tauranga.
Fair share
Those who talk about “keeping your own hard-earned money” should consider British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak whose bank accounts grew by more than $3 million last year, most of which required no effort on his part whatsoever. His total MP and ministerial salaries of around $306,000 were dwarfed by his dividend income of almost $340,000. And the capital gain on his investment portfolio was more than $3.2m for the 2022 financial year. In New Zealand, only the income he actually earned through his job would be taxed. For the rest, he’d get a free ride. Ordinary people without wealth pay tax on every dollar. Advocating for a wealth tax is called “politics of envy” when in fact it’s “politics of fairness”. Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.
Capital expenditure
As Mayor Brown looks at avenues to cut spending, he would do well to explore his final statement in the article, “Axe hovers over Auckland’s arts” (NZ Herald, March 27), in which he observed that a third of the nation’s population receives a quarter of Creative NZ funding. That statistic gets even more disturbing when one compares direct government operational funding for the Wellington-based NZ Symphony Orchestra and Te Papa with their Auckland counterparts. The NZSO gets $16.3 million while the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra gets $3.7m; Te Papa gets $61m, while the Auckland War Memorial Museum gets $0. Auckland Council gives the APO $3.2m and the museum $32m. Wellington, with a quarter of our population, gets a free ride, while we pay for our institutions out of our rates and for theirs out of our taxes. The “national” tags that supposedly justify the inequities are questionable, with our museum every bit as good as theirs, and the APO plays 44 concerts in Auckland this year while the NZSO plays eight here, 12 in Wellington, six in Christchurch, three in Hamilton, four in Dunedin and three in Tauranga. Our council and MPs should be actively looking to rectify this Wellington-centric funding. Tony Waring, Grey Lynn.
Perfect form
Regarding the principal who resigned over the sculpture complaint (NZ Herald, March 27), it is a very sad day for humankind when Michelangelo’s David is regarded as a pornographic sculpture. I have been there; I have seen it. I have stood in front of this sculpture in awe. It is a display of mankind in its entirety and perfection. It represents something we should all aspire to. It shows the human body before it has been ravaged by bad diet, over-indulgence in any way, lack of exercise, age and health deterioration. This sculpture should be celebrated today, as it was in the beginning, on my first sighting of it many years ago, and forever more, without fear of misinterpretations from all the “nasties” that influence us today and not reduced by the madness of political correctness. David made me want to stand taller, prouder (then and still today) and celebrate the unadulterated body I was blessed with. E. P. A. Hope, Wai o Taiki Bay.
Instant satisfaction
Matt Heath asks (NZ Herald, March 27), “Why can’t we enjoy the dark delights of instant at cafes?” I have a possible solution. Do a deal with the nice barista at your favourite cafe. Ask for a cup of boiling hot water with a dash of milk in it. Say you are prepared to pay $2 or $2.50 for it. When you get it back to your table, take out your Gregg’s Red Ribbon Roast and stir in a spoonful. That way the barista gets paid well for hot water and you get to enjoy your coffee and the good cafe vibe. Cheers, Matt.
Karen Smith, One Tree Hill.
On Davidson
Look again! Look again! Gavin Baker, Glendowie.
A dear friend of mine once said that when a person makes an inflammatory statement when they are under stress or drunk, it is normally what they truly believe. Max Brown, Cambridge.
White cis men cause all the violence in the world, so peace reigns in Africa, the Americas, Asia? Ian Doube, Rotorua.
I am heartily sick of never-ending excuses being made for dumb politicians, of which there is no shortage in this country. Paul Beck, West Harbour.
On Parker
Our country is celebrated throughout the world for being the first to give women the vote but is now known for forcing a woman, who was standing up for women’s rights, to flee the country fearing for her life. Our $10 notes will be hiding their faces in shame. Martin Spencer, Auckland Central.
If she had been given the opportunity to speak she would have expressed the fact that, as part of women’s rights, young girls should not have to be exposed to male genitalia in their changing rooms. Is this too much to ask? Pauline Paget, Campbells Bay.
The real test is, if Posie Parker and her ilk win, would women be better off? I suspect they would not. Wesley Parish, Tauranga.
On Heath
Memo: Matt Heath. A chap of impeccable breeding once told me that only cowboys and loud Americans drank coffee at breakfast. A gentleman, he said, should insist on tea, preferably English Breakfast. Quite right, too. Dean Donoghue, Pāpāmoa. Beach.
Suburban apartments to outnumber CBD ones
Ludicrous. Apartments are suitable for inner-city areas where the inconvenience of living in a shoebox is outweighed by convenience. This suburban ghettoisation (and associated increased congestion and strain on inadequate infrastructure) is a slow-moving disaster. Jonathan S.
I think many people have been fooled into thinking that Kāinga Ora is a privately owned business and don’t realise it’s just another name for state housing. Yes‚ it is state houses they are building, no matter what they call the project, and the Government is borrowing billions to give to themselves to build houses that will never show a return on taxpayer-funded projects. Your taxes will have to pay for these houses. Roy H.
Many don’t have onsite car parking and even the ones that do have limited spaces. Friends around Mt Eden said their streets are filled with cars and almost nightly cars are broken into because thieves know most of the cars’ owners are half a block away. Jan W.
Do we need a “no vacancy” sign at Auckland’s perimeter and airport? The regions are screaming out for workers in both islands. We’d love 5000 more people here in Timaru. Can’t the immigration department put in a clause that you’re welcome to migrate here but, sorry, Auckland is full? Tim B.
Auckland is also way short on workers. In fact, that is essentially the problem from one end of New Zealand to the other. Laurence D.
It might be time to buy a boat… a steady decline in our society over the last few years and policy and trends forcing us into mass transit and intensive housing. Lots more unintended consequences are on the horizon. Daniel S.
OPINION: The PM, grilled by Mike Hosking, negates what Cabinet has already approved.