Mallard calls halt to school closures

By HELEN TUNNAH, deputy political editor

An angry backlash from parents has forced Education Minister Trevor Mallard to call an abrupt halt to his controversial programme of closing schools.

Mr Mallard had also faced pressure from within his own political party, as Labour MPs from areas with schools tagged for closure endured the community's distress - and faced losing their seats in next year's election.

Mr Mallard said yesterday that schools already listed for merger or closure in the coming months would not be given a last-minute reprieve from reviews, with final decisions due in April.

Those reviews have affected scores of schools throughout the country which were marked for closure or merger. Of 18 targeted in Northland alone, just five, including historic Waikare southeast of Russell, emerged unscathed from a review.

"What I do want to make clear is that the days of people worrying that when the minister's coming to your school, he's coming not to praise you but to bury you, are over," Mr Mallard said yesterday.

National's education spokesman, Bill English, last night urged Mr Mallard to offer schools already affected a second chance.

"This announcement will lift the level of anger that parents have who are caught up in the review, and the Government must respond to that. It's a highly political decision. Seats like Invercargill they've lost - this won't claw it back. They'll lose Aoraki."

A national day of protest against school closures is to be held today.

Mr Mallard yesterday announced a five-year moratorium on his programme of school reviews, which began in 2000. Cabinet papers had indicated that the programme would last 10 years, and affect 1000 schools.

The mergers and closures had been justified on the basis that there was excess capacity in some areas, and resources could be redirected from maintaining empty classrooms to providing real teaching resources and equipment.

The main teacher unions, traditionally strong Labour supporters, remained quiet about the proposals until recent weeks.

Mr Mallard said the decision had been made to ensure there was a stronger focus on education, rather than the unsettling issue of closures.

But he also conceded that the moratorium was a political backdown.

"I'm a politician. In the end you govern with consent, and I haven't convinced people this is good."

Mr Mallard said he expected schools already marked for closure or mergers would feel "slightly anxious" about the moratorium offered to others.

There is no legal redress for schools already affected.

The primary teachers' union, the NZEI, said the moratorium was "sensible".

President Colin Tarr said the union wanted Mr Mallard to reconsider reviews of schools already announced.

Chris France, of the School Trustees Association, welcomed the moratorium, even though it did not look to save the 100 or so schools currently under review from the likelihood of closing.