KEY POINTS:
The Ministry of Education has given the Government some drastic options to stop education costs rising - including school closures, higher fees for tertiary students, and reducing the weekly 20 hours' early childcare subsidy for wealthier families.
In its briefing to Education Minister Anne Tolley the ministry warned
of increasing pressures on the education purse and said tough choices would have to be made if the Government wanted to prevent further growth in education spending.
National has instructed all government departments to find savings so more money can be directed to "front line" services without increasing spending.
Among the Ministry of Education's options were school closures to help pay for the new schools expected to be needed in areas such as Auckland, Queenstown, Hamilton and Tauranga.
It also suggested abandoning policies to reduce class sizes, saying it was better to improve the quality of teachers than reduce class sizes, which was costly "for what may result in few or no gains in student outcomes".
On tertiary education, it said the costs would grow and more people would take part as unemployment rose. National's "Youth Guarantee" to allow 16 and 17-year-olds free education at school-level tertiary courses would also carry extra costs. It said one option was to allow universities to increase the fees for students if the Government was unwilling to contribute extra funding.
In early childhood education, it suggested redirecting some of the funding for universal subsidies - such as the 20 Hours' subsidies - away from higher income households into disadvantaged communities.
Many of the suggestions on the list are politically risky - and Anne Tolley was quick to pour cold water on those that were contrary to National's policies including changes to free childcare hours and removing the cap on university fees.
"We are not going to change those just because they're suggesting we reconsider. We are keeping to what we promised and they will just have to find savings elsewhere."
She also scotched the ministry's suggestion of stopping reductions in class sizes, although she acknowledged some schools were struggling to recruit the new teachers needed for it. National's policy was to continue with Labour's goal of reducing new entrant classes from 1:18 down to 1:15 next year.
Ms Tolley said school closures was something she would discuss with the ministry, but she had not yet considered it and was concentrating on getting National's key education policies in place.