Prime Minister John Key has defended Minister of Education Hekia Parata's handling of a sensitive proposal that involves closing and merging some Christchurch schools.
Confusion unfolded over last week's announcement that 13 Canterbury schools could close and another 18 merge in a proposed $1 billion reshape of education in the region.
Mr Key blamed media outlets who broke an embargo for the confusion and distress in Christchurch over proposed changes.
He defended the way the announcement was handled saying the only other option was asking schools to keep the news quiet and that wasn't possible.
"We asked the media to respect an embargo and in my experience the vast, overwhelming bulk of New Zealand media are very responsible and one part of the media didn't."